The Government is to hold a referendum later this year on a constitutional amendment to provide for the investigation of misbehaviour by judges and for removing them from office.
It is expected the proposal to amend the Constitution will be put to the people on the same day as the Nice referendum and the referendum to delete references to the death penalty. May 31st is believed to be the date chosen by the Government for the referendums.
The Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, said yesterday he had been authorised by the Government to have a Bill drafted to provide for the amendment in regard to judicial behaviour and impeachment.
He said he envisaged the questions to be put would propose a constitutional provision for a body with powers in relation to the judiciary, including power to investigate misbehaviour by a judge. Secondly, it would propose a procedure for removing judges from office for stated misbehaviour.
The new judicial body will deal with, among other things, complaints about judicial behaviour and, if appropriate, reprimand a judge or, in serious cases, recommend their impeachment.
According to a statement from the Minister, at present there is no sanction for judicial misbehaviour apart from removal from office, which it said "would not be appropriate in all cases", and this shortcoming would now be rectified.
Since the Sheedy affair the need to have a regulatory body has been accepted by all groups. Under Article 35.4.1 of the Constitution "a judge of the Supreme Court or the High Court shall not be removed from office except for stated misbehaviour or incapacity, and then only upon resolutions passed by Dail Eireann and by Seanad Eireann calling for his removal".
Mr O'Donoghue said there would be provision for the involvement of lay people in the new body, "enhancing the confidence" of the public in its work. A spokesman for the Department of Justice said it was not yet possible to indicate the proportion of lay representatives. Legislation will be necessary to give effect to the new provisions.
The second part of the proposed referendum will involve the replacement of the existing procedures for removing a judge by a procedure that is almost identical to that which would apply to the impeachment of the President. The dismissal of a judge from office will require the support of the majority of the membership of the Dail and of the Seanad.
The precise wording of the proposal is in the course of being drafted to take into account the recommendations - including those on a proposed judicial council - of the all-party Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution and the report of the Committee on Judicial Conduct and Ethics, which was chaired by the Chief Justice, Mr Justice Keane.