Sir, – David Gwynn Morgan’s call for a change in the mode of judicial appointments (October 29th) is both cogent and timely. Aside from the obvious advantages of having a proper, apartisan judicial appointments process, there is at least one ancillary benefit to such a new arrangement.
When it was revealed that the board members of the proposed new Legal Services Regulatory Authority were to be directly selected by the executive, many commentators cried foul. Minister for Justice Alan Shatter defended this process by explicit reference to the fact that judges were appointed in the same manner. Precedent, it seems, is indeed powerful in the legal sphere.
Removing the precedent of political judicial appointment may well have the effect of weakening the case for political appointments in other areas of Irish life. – Yours, etc