Plans to introduce a code of conduct for judges are to be deferred until after the general election. This is in part due to a delay in the judiciary making a formal submission on the process.
Minister for Justice Michael McDowell promised in the wake of the Judge Brian Curtin affair to speed up legislation to allow for the setting up of a procedure to deal with judicial misconduct.
Plans to establish a judicial council were first mooted in a report in 2000 from the Committee on Judicial Conduct and Ethics, chaired by former chief justice Ronan Keane, which was set up in 1995.
The committee called for a procedure for dealing with complaints of judicial misconduct which, while serious, might not warrant the ultimate sanction of impeachment by the Oireachtas.
The Government failed to act on the committee proposals, and when a Dáil committee was set up to inquire into the conduct of Judge Curtin of the Circuit Court in 2004, Mr McDowell put on hold plans to legislate for the council pending the outcome of the inquiry.
The Dáil committee was set up after Judge Curtin's acquittal on a charge of possessing child pornography because the warrant under which his computer was seized was out of date.
The committee's inquiry never went ahead following Judge Curtin's decision in November to retire on health grounds. Mr McDowell then announced plans for the judicial council to go ahead.
There was widespread feeling in legal circles that the Curtin affair highlighted the urgent need for legislation to provide for the regulation of judicial conduct and ethics.
The Minister published a draft of the Judicial Council Bill over a year ago, and it provided for a code of ethics for judges, a process for the investigation of complaints against the judiciary and a mechanism for judicial education and exchange of information among judges on matters such as sentencing.
After the resignation of Judge Curtin, Mr McDowell said he was awaiting observations on the Bill from the chief justice, Mr Justice John Murray. They were expected at the end of January.
The Minister said in answer to a Dáil question recently that consultations on the proposed Bill have taken place with the office of the Attorney General.
"I have also considered it prudent, given the nature of the subject, to seek the observations of the Chief Justice. I await those observations."
There was no formal response from the judiciary on the delay in submitting its observations on the proposed legislation. However, a source said that the Chief Justice would have to consult widely before doing so.
With the general election expected to be called after the Dáil Easter recess, and with only approximately 10 Dáil sitting days before then, the Bill will not see its passage through the Oireachtas before the summer.
Speaking on his last day on the bench on December 21st, High Court judge Mr Justice Philip O'Sullivan called for the immediate introduction of the judicial council, saying it could not come "a minute too soon".