THE CHAIRMAN of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC), Mr Justice Kevin Haugh, has indicated his wish to leave the commission and return to the bench, The Irish Times has learned.
It is understood that Mr Justice Haugh wishes to return to the bench next February, when he will have served three years.
Mr Justice Haugh's appointment as chairman of the new body was announced in October 2005, but he, along with the other two commissioners, Conor Brady and Carmel Foley, did not receive their warrants until February 2006.
He will return to the bench as a High Court judge, although he was only appointed a High Court judge days before his appointment to the commission was announced. He had served for 10 years as a judge of the Circuit Court.
The legislation specifies that the chairman of the commission may be a judge of the superior courts, that is the High Court or Supreme Court. While it lays out conditions for the appointment of a judge to this position, and for his or her replacement while in it, it does not specify that the chairman must be a member of the judiciary. The GSOC was established to replace the old Garda Complaints Board system, which was seen as ineffective because it involved gardaí investigating gardaí.
Earlier this year the GSOC asked the Government to give it the power to opt out of fully investigating some of the public's complaints against gardaí. Instead, some complaints would be referred to the Garda Commissioner or, when warranted, could be wound down after a brief preliminary inquiry.
The commission stressed that only relatively minor complaints would be referred to the Garda Commissioner.
The commission would monitor the Garda's investigations and could at any time decide to take back control of a case. The then minister for justice, Brian Lenihan, met the commission last year and it was stated then that he had reached substantial agreement with the commission and that legislative changes would be brought to the Cabinet shortly thereafter.
The GSOC received almost 3,000 complaints in its first year of operation, according to its latest annual report, published in May. The report also stated that it was conducting 750 investigations into alleged criminal conduct and had sent nine cases to the Director of Public Prosecutions for consideration.