For the first time in the history of the State, a judge can be removed from office, following the decision of the Supreme Court yesterday that an all-party Oireachtas Committee set up to inquire into the behaviour of Judge Brian Curtin is constitutional.
The committee will now move quickly to deal with the case so that it can be disposed of well in advance of the next general election, committee chairman Denis O'Donovan said last night.
Judge Curtin will be given just days to comply with an order to produce his computer, which contains images of child pornography. A range of documentation seized by gardaí at the same time also constitutes vital evidence which will have to be given to the committee.
Senior political sources last night dismissed fears that the impeachment process might not be concluded by the time of the next general election, in which case the whole process would collapse.
Now that the Supreme Court has made its decision, no further legal challenges are possible and the committee should not face any serious obstacles in finding the facts of the case. When they have been established, they will be presented to the Houses of the Oireachtas which will have to make the final decision on impeachment. It is expected that the committee will have concluded its work by the end of the summer at the latest and will be in a position to report back to the Dáil and Seanad in October.
Judge Curtin was appointed to the Circuit Court in November 2001. Six months later his house was raided by gardaí and his computer and various documents seized. He was acquitted of having child pornography in April 2004 because the warrant under which his computer was seized was out of date.
The Government brought a resolution to both Houses that he be removed from office and the Oireachtas voted to establish the committee to inquire into his behaviour. The committee ordered him to produce his computer. Judge Curtin, who remains on full salary although he has not served on the bench since he was charged, began legal proceedings maintaining that the Oireachtas committee was acting unconstitutionally.
The High Court rejected that claim and the Supreme Court yesterday upheld that decision. The seven-judge Supreme Court in a unanimous decision found that the Oireachtas had the right to set up a committee to inquire into the judge's behaviour.