Government amends court plan

THE Government has abandoned its plan to set up a courts service board immediately on a non-statutory basis, as promised by the Taoiseach 10 days ago, on foot of judicial concerns about its constitutionality.

The Minister for Justice, Mrs Owen, announced suddenly last night that the Government had now decided to set up the board - which will remove the administration of the courts from the Department of Justice - on a statutory basis from the beginning.

The change of heart follows discussions between Mrs Owen, the Chief Justice, Mr Justice Hamilton, and the chairwoman of the working group on a courts commission, Mrs Justice Denham, last Monday. At that meeting the importance of separating the respective roles of the Executive and the Judiciary under the Constitution was raised.

The about-turn in policy was announced by Mrs Owen in a statement accompanying Mrs Justice Denham's third report. The 68-page document was published, without prior warning, at 8.10 pm. last night.

The sudden publication followed an inquiry to the Department of Justice in the late afternoon arising from a short statement by the Fianna Fail spokesman on justice, Mr John O'Donoghue.

He drew attention to Mr Bruton's statement in the Dail on November 12th, at the height of the political crisis over the Judge Lynch affair, that "an independent and permanent board to be known as the Courts Service will be set up within a week on a non-statutory basis". Mr O'Donoghue asked: "Where is it?"

In another demonstration of lack of co-ordination with her Department, Mrs Owen replied that she had received Government approval for the publication of Mrs Justice Denham's report last Tuesday. She had been presented with the report on Monday when she met the Chief Justice and Mrs Justice Denham.

Before the report was submitted to Mrs Owen on November 18th the establishment of a courts service was decided upon by the Government the previous Tuesday, November 12th, on the basis announced by the Taoiseach - that it would be set up with non-statutory status within a week, the Minister explained. She added that when that announcement was made the third report of the working group on a courts commission had not been received.

"As a result of the report and arising from discussions between the Minister for Justice and the Chief Justice Liam Hamilton and Mrs Justice Susan Denham, the Government has now decided that the courts service should be established on a statutory basis from the beginning and that interim non-statutory arrangements should not be made," her statement said.

She then said: "In view of the importance of separating the respective roles of the Executive and the Judiciary under the Constitution, the Government has accepted this view".

The Heads of a Bill to establish a permanent courts service board are included in Mrs Justice Denham's report. The Government hopes to bring these heads before the Dail's Legislation and Security Committee before Christmas. The preparation of the Bill would be given priority and brought to the Dail "as quickly as possible", the Minister said.

The working group, she added, would retain the services of a management consultant to help it draw up the specifications for the job of chief executive of the new board.

Responding to last night's announcement, Mr O'Donoghue said this latest twist was a clear indication of not only how the Minister, but also the Government, was at "sixes and sevens" in regard to the entire court system.