The Gazette 1993

GAZETTE

L A W B R I E F

APRIL 1993

By Dr. Eamonn G. Hall, Solicitor

Question Time on Justice

During Question Time in the Dáil on 30

March last, the Minister for Justice

Ms.

Maire Geoghegan-Quinn,

and the

| Minister of State at the Department of

Justice

Mr. William O'Dea,

answered

questions on a number of matters of

interest to members of the profession,

! which are reported below.

Solicitor Judges of Circuit and High

Courts

The Minister for Justice, Ms.

Geoghegan-Quinn, stated that she was

| sympathetic to the appointment of

solicitors as judges of the Circuit Court

and the High Court. She noted that the

Law Society had recently sent a submis-

sion to her Department in relation to the

; appointment of solicitors to the courts

and that she had taken that into

j consideration.

! The Minister also stated that relevant

legislation does not provide for any

outside agency to assess candidates for

appointment to the Bench, and she had

no proposals at present for the intro-

| duction of amending legislation which

| would provide for such assessment. The

system of recruitment to the Judiciary

! was based on the idea of bringing in

| people who were experienced and

! trained practitioners. Although the

emphasis was on the need to select

people who have the necessary legal

qualifications, the Minister stated that

the Government naturally took account

of the suitability generally of the indiv-

iduals recommended for appointment.

No Government would advise the

President to appoint somebody who was

manifestly unsuitable for judicial office.

Some who are recommended for

appointment subsequently make

controversial decisions, but the Minister

stated there was no guarantee that this

would be avoided, simply by changing

the selection method.

In the context of the Minister's reply

above, readers may be interested in

noting that the position of a judge of the

Supreme Court of Gibraltar was

advertised recently. The person to be

appointed would also be called upon to

discharge such functions of the Office of

i Chief Justice, as may be specified in the

instrument of appointment. Both

I solicitors and barristers were eligible for

appointment. Persons had to be legally

qualified solicitors and barristers, with

extensive experience of civil and

criminal law. Will the day ever come

when vacancies forjudges in the High

and Supreme Court will be advertised in

Ireland in the national media, with a

stipulation to the effect that both solicit-

i ors and barristers are eligible to apply?

| Disgraceful Condition of Courthouses

Much of the courthouse accommodation

badly needs to be upgraded, according

; to the Minister of State at the

Department of Justice, Mr. O'Dea.

Mary Harney, TD, had asked whether

the Minister for Justice would agree that

| the facilities in courthouses were an

l absolute disgrace, unlike the facilities in

most Garda stations, which were among

the best in Europe. She noted that the

; vociferous campaign pursued by the

| Gardai ten to fifteen years ago had

borne fruit. The Minister for State

replied that £1.25 million in 1993 would

be sufficient to allow the State to

proceed with the equipping of a new

court building in Cork and the execution

of certain works in Galway, together

with rectifying certain problems in

relation to courthouses in Carrick-on-

Shannon, Clonmel and Drogheda.

The Minister stated that a total of six

civil actions had been initiated to date

j against the Minister for Justice arising

from the failure of local authorities to

maintain courthouses in proper repair

and conditions. These are in respect of

the courthouses at Carrick-on-Shannon,

Clonmel and Drogheda. Three previous

j cases which were successfully taken by

local practitioners related to Drogheda

i in 1972, Waterford 1981-1983 and

Cavan 1987-1989.

Effective Video Surveillance

Video surveillance in operation in the

greater Dublin area has certainly proved

very effective according to the Minister

I for Justice. Camera equipment is specifi-

cally in operation in certain parts of

Dublin for the identification of prospect-

ive criminals. The operation of video

surveillance has been very helpful to the

Garda Síochána from time to time.

| The Criminal Justice (Forensic

Evidence) Act, 1990,

which came into

| operation on 5 June, 1992 has enabled

the Garda Síochána, subject to certain

conditions, to obtain bodily samples

from persons suspected of certain types

of serious offences for the purpose of

forensic testing, including DNA

| profiling, according to the Minister for

Justice. Two molecular biologists have

been recruited and trained in the specific

| techniques of DNA profiling for

criminal work, as well as having been

! trained as forensic scientists. A certain

amount of preparatory work must be

completed before the techniques are put

into operation.

j Computerisation in Courts

A major computer training programme

for courts personnel is just concluding,

according to the Minister for State at the j

Department of Justice, Mr. O'Dea. He

stated that considerable progress has

! been made in the computerisation of the

work of the District, Circuit and High

Courts.

Í A case tracking system has been

introduced for the Circuit Court Office,

and has been installed in three offices to

date, and is under evaluation in others,

A family law accounts package has

been made available to the Dublin

| Metropolitan District Court Family Law

Office, and an automatic office system

to provide post-court documents, such

as fines, notices and warrants, is being

introduced in Dundalk, Galway,

DNA Testing