Former AG Michael McDowell backs call for judicial council

A Seanad motion calling for the introduction of legislation for a judicial council, has been endorsed by former attorney general and minister for justice Senator Michael McDowell. However, a suggestion that a register of interests for judges should be established has been dropped.

Mr McDowell signed the motion along with Independent Senators Victor Boyhan and Gerard Craughwell. It calls for the introduction of a council "to provide a framework of judicial conduct and ethics" and says public confidence in the judiciary's independence could be enhanced if it were established.

It says there were positive outcomes for councils in Canada and in New South Wales in Australia. It notes the Committee on Judicial Conduct and Ethics, in 2000, had recommended a council.

The Government is called on to commit to early publication of legislation to provide for “effective remedies for complaints about judicial misbehaviour, including lay participation, in the investigation of complaints”.

The motion asks it to consider ways to support the judiciary’s operation “to bring about greater efficiency and uniformity in judicial services and to improve their quality”.

Last year, the Chief Justice Mrs Justice Susan Denham recommended the establishment of a judicial council.

Mr Boyhan, a former Progressive Democrats colleague of Mr McDowell, said last month he intended the motion to include a call for a register of judges’ interests, similar to that required of elected politicians, declaring property and business interests. However the suggestion was not been included.

Mr Boyhan told The Irish Times he wanted to bring people with him politically and achieve some sort of broad support first for the judicial council. He had received feedback and was conscious of the separation of powers. "You can't have the executive interfering with the judiciary, and I understand all of that."

A judicial council would have to be truly independent, he added, and it could look at a register of interests. “The mandatory declaration could be a function for the judicial council and they would have to adopt guidelines and criteria.” However he still believed in the need for a register of interests for judges and would raise the matter during the debate on the motion, expected later this year.

He also pointed out that legislation had been prepared for a judicial council since 2010 and he queried why it was not enacted. “I would go as far as saying I think the Government do not want to be on a collision course with the judiciary,” he said .