The Gazette 1996

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GAZETTE

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 1996

Solicitor Judges A Week is a Long Time in Politics

As the Courts and Court Officers Bill 1995, made progress through the Oireachtas in the first week of December, one issue came to dominate all others both in the media reporting and in the Dail debate. Would the Bar's monopoly on senior judicial appointments be broken in favour of solicitors? "Chance To Widen The Pool Of Potential Judges " was the heading on a 1000-word article by Ken Murphy, Director General of the Law Society, in which he argued that solicitors, who represent 80% of the legal profession, should no longer be discriminated against in relation to eligibility for judicial appointments. The article began "The Dail will have an opportunity tomorrow to bury a relic of history which operates against the public interest. However, whether the Government is prepared to grasp this opportunity remains in doubt". Later in the article the Director General sought to rebut the argument that a career in advocacy was the only suitable training for a judicial appointment, saying "Experience has shown that the best advocates do not necessarily make the best judges and, correspondingly, that some of the most able judges did not have distinguished careers as advocates". He continued, "In the Society's view, the person's knowledge of the law and his or her standing as a lawyer, independence of mind, judgement and decisiveness as well as ability to 'chair' and administer his or her court are among the qualities which are more desirable than experience as an advocate. Other personal qualities are also important: patience, courtesy and, of course, compassion." The Irish Times - 4 December 1995

ability, soundness of character and judgement and technical knowledge, then they should be regarded as qualified for appointment. It is in the public interest that appointment to the judiciary should be based purely on merit and whether the candidate is a solicitor or barrister should be irrelevant." "End Cartel, Says Shatter", was the heading on a report which began "A Government Dail deputy last night called for an end to the cosy cartel of barristers and counsel from which judges are chosen and said that the narrow pool from which judges are chosen should be widened to include practising solicitors". The article went on to report Deputy Alan Shatter's view that "there was nothing unique about barristers which merit the members of the Bar being given an exclusive right to sit when appointed as judges in our higher courts". The Cork Examiner - 5 December 1995 "Govt. To Lift Curb On High Court Posts " was the heading on a report which began "The Government is expected to bow to pressure from all sides of the Dail and allow solicitors to be appointed to the High Court and possibly the Supreme Court." "While the Law Society has welcomed the proposed move the Bar Council has come out strongly against it and warned the Minister not to make hurried changes 'just for the sake of change itself by allowing solicitors to be appointed as judges to the higher courts". The report recorded that the Minister proposed making solicitors eligible for the Circuit Court only "but an The Irish Independent - 7 December 1995

amendment to the Bill, proposed by Fine Gael's Alan Shatter, calling for solicitors to be eligible for appointment to the High Court and the Supreme Court benches, was supported by Fine Gael, Labour, Fianna Fail and Progressive Democrat members of the Dail Legislation and Security Committee yesterday". On the morning of the last day of Committee Stage debate in the Dail, on which day Minister Nora Owen, TD, indicated that she would report the Government's final position on the solicitor judges question, the issue was debated on the Morning Ireland radio programme by Chairman of the Bar Council, James Nugent, SC, and the proposer of the Dail amendment, Alan Shatter, TD. A full transcript of the debate follows: RTE Radio 1 - Morning Ireland, 7 December 1995

James Nugent SC

David Hanly:

We move on to the vexed question of the appointment of solicitors as High Court and Supreme Court Judges. The Minister for Justice, Nora Owen, yesterday told the Dail Committee on Legislation that she needed time to consult with her Government

"If candidates can demonstrate that they have the required intellectual