Controversial judicial appointments Bill delayed again

The controversial Judicial Appointments Commission Bill has been delayed again and will not return to the Oireachtas until after the summer.

The Bill, which is supported by the Minister for Transport Shane Ross and would reform the way in which judges are appointed, did not conclude its committee stage in the Seanad, and is not scheduled to return to the Upper House until after the summer recess.

It was due to return to the Dáil on Thursday evening, but slow progress in the Seanad has ruled that out. Once concluded in the Seanad, it must return to the Dáil for further consideration before it becomes law.

The Bill has been repeatedly delayed, a source of tension between Mr Ross and his Fine Gael colleagues in Government. Many in Fine Gael disagree with aspects of the Bill, but the Minister for Justice Charlie Flanagan has said he is pushing ahead with it.

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The Government said earlier this week – and Mr Ross has said repeatedly in recent months – that it hoped the Bill would become law before the summer recess. However, a large number of amendments in the Seanad has led to slow progress.

Unconstitutional

Senator and former attorney general Michael McDowell says he believes that aspects of the Bill are unconstitutional, and he intends to ask the President to refer it to the Supreme Court if passed in its current form.

Were the President to use his powers to refer the Bill to the Supreme Court under article 26 of the Constitution, the judges would decide whether the Bill was compatible with the Constitution.

The judiciary has been strongly opposed to the Bill and, in a highly unusual move, has made its concerns known both publicly and to the Government.

Mr McDowell says that requiring sitting judges to attend at the proposed commission – which is to have a lay majority and a lay chair – for interview before appointment to the Supreme Court may be in conflict with the Constitution.

"The whole idea of serving members of the High Court or the Court of Appeal auditioning before such a body is fundamentally unconstitutional in my view," Mr McDowell told The Irish Times. "It's absurd to have a group of law people conduct a beauty context among members of the judiciary . . . It's crazy stuff." Mr Ross has sharply criticised opposition to the Bill, suggesting the legal profession is seeking to protect its own privileges.