306 / 482
GAZETTE
SEPTEMBER
1989
ence and I have never heard of any
other judge having that experience
in Ireland. In Ireland a sort of judicial
curtain falls down when you
become a judge and it is respected
by former friends and associates
and the judges expect it to be
respected. I have never heard of
any kind of out-of-court approach
to a judge. Nor would it be tolerated
for one moment.
What is your view of
the
requirement that judgments of this
court be unanimous?
It is a very difficult obligation to
impose on people - it is one
reason why I find the work here a
little bit strange. But unanimity
does lead to certainty. In the
Supreme Court in Ireland we also
have an obligation to reach a un-
animous decision on any matter
relating to the cons t i t u t i onal
validity of a law. Judges may be
agreed on whether the law is valid
or invalid, but may have quite
diverse reasons for so doing. So I
sometimes felt the judgments
lacked we i ght because the
rationalisation was obviously very
weak in certain places. It had to
allow for conflicting reasons but
without expressing them. The
Constitution prohibits any indica-
tion of a contrary view. The judg-
ment then has to be written as if
it were the view of everybody. It is
not a system which I think is
perfect. I think it has weaknesses.
Can you foresee reform in that area
of the court here?
The present system would have
been preferred because of the
overriding need for certainty. There
may come a stage where people
can say: 'Well, we have established
the principle and now it would be
better to have majority judgments
and let each person express his
view.' In fact, of course, a un-
animous decision is arrived at, from
a practical point of view, by a
majority judgment. But you do not
say that.
•
A. l .J.A.
YOUNG LAWYERS
INTERNATIONAL ASSOCIATION
ANNUAL CONGRESS
NEW DELHI, INDIA
SEPTEMBER 25TH-30TH 1989
For more details please
contact:-
Michael Irvine
Tel: (01) 760981
or
Fax: (01) 760501
284