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Members of the judiciary wrote to a European anti-corruption organization complaining that they were not properly consulted by the government about the proposed new appointment system for judges [19659002]. composed of five judges, three lawyers including the Attorney General and nine non-lawyers. The Chief Justice will be a member of the commission but will not be its chair.
Non-professional members will be selected by the Public Appointments Service. The commission will select a short list of judges from which the Cabinet will choose for positions on the bench.
The controversial bill was championed by Transportation Minister Shane Ross but is headed by the Oireachtas as a matter of justice by the Minister for Judge Charlie Flanagan.
He drew early criticism from judges and opposition politicians who allege that it erodes judicial independence.
Opposition
Chief Justices such as High Court Judge Peter Kelly
In March, Attorney General Séamus Woulfe described the bill as a "dog dinner", while Former Justice Minister Alan Shatter has described it as the worst law in 30 years of politics.
A report of the Group of States against Corruption (Greco), released Thursday afternoon by the government, raises several concerns about the draft law on the risk of political interference in appointments court.
Flanagan emphasized that the judiciary will be strongly represented in the recruitment process
"Important Concerns"
The Greco Report underlined "significant concerns" that judges are in the minority on the commission [19659002]. "El Greco questions whether this approach is in line with European standards which, in situations where final judicial appointments are made by the executive, require an independent authority. a substantial part of the judiciary to be allowed to make recommendations or opinions before such appointments. "
He urged the government to"
Greco stated that he received comments from Chief Justice Frank Clarke, Justice Kelly and the heads of all other divisions of the court who objected to it. bill
standards
The judges argued that the bill did not conform to European standards and had not been the subject of extensive consultations with the judiciary notwithstanding the contrary statements of the Government.
In response, Mr. Flanagan stated: very strong judicial presence on this body, with a secular majority of duly qualified and carefully selected persons. "
He said that the presence on the commission of the chief justice and the presidents of the court divisions "will represent a substantial judicial representation on this body".
The legislation is progressing slowly. He finished his pbadage through the Dáil and is in front of Seanad where the report or the last debate took more than 12 hours with less than a quarter of the more than 100 amendments dealt with.
Seanad is expected Next Monday afternoon, Taoiseach Leo Varadkar said that "the plan" was that the bill be pbaded before the summer holidays.
He also defended the legislation saying: "We disagree with this badessment because lay people appointed to the Judicial Appointments Commission will be appointed transparently by the civil service, which means that it is not necessary." There will be no undue political interference. "
The Greco report also states that Ireland has not fully implemented the anti-corruption recommendations in eight other areas. Some of them, such as the need for judicial training and a judicial council, will be addressed by legislation currently before the Oireachtas.
"Overall Unsatisfactory"
Because of failures, Greco found that the compliance rate was unsatisfactory. "In a statement, Mr. Flanagan said he was disappointed that more progress did not occur. this year, and highlighted several anti-corruption measures taken by the government, including the adoption of the 2018 Law on Corruption and the Establishment of an Anti-Corruption Unit.
L & # 39; The Association of Judges of Ireland welcomed the Greco report and called for "a review of the proposed measure".
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