Sir, – May I echo the very sensible opinion of former circuit judge Peter Langan (June 24th)? Having surveyed the landscape, I see little grave impropriety in Mr Collins's act.
It seems the Courts Service in Ireland has not adopted written ethical codes, but our sister jurisdictions in common law have adopted codes which neatly summarise the bedrock principles here. The Code of Conduct for US federal judges states that "a judge shall accord to every person who is legally interested in a proceeding the right to be heard according to law".
But the recently published Guide to Judicial Conduct for the UK judiciary states that "the primary responsibility for deciding whether a particular activity or course of conduct is appropriate rests with the individual judge".
Under these standards, I doubt Mr Collins could be described as “legally interested” in the proceeding in which he intervened. His manoeuvre therefore may not have been totally sound. However, it seems harmless because we presume the judge in this case will know how to act.
Whatever the guiding principles may be, I think the reaction of some commentators is completely over the top given the fact that there is no suggestion that Mr Collins’s letter proceeded from anything but honourable intentions. To impeach a man for such a letter seems to me to wish to banish pleas for mercy – a virtue “twice bless’d” let’s remember – from our justice system. – Yours, etc,
Dr SEAN
ALEXANDER SMITH,
Chao do Loureiro,
Lisbon.