The Gazette 1986

GAZETTE

APRIL 1986

INCORPORATED LAW SOCIETY OF IRELAND GAZETTE Vol. No. 80 No. 3

APRIL 1986

In this issue . . . EEC Directive on Products Liability - Part II

The Appointment of Judges

(C'ontd. from p.69)

procedure and sentencing, visits to prisons and youth detention centres and at least a week spent sitting on the Bench with a Circuit Judge. Other Common Law jurisdictions have quite sophisticated systems of training junior judges and indeed of requiring more senior judges to participate in further regular training programmes. To continue to rely on the principle that all practising lawyers have acquired by experience, osmosis or divine inspiration the ability to administer justice in a satisfactory manner at 24 hours' notice does not stand up to serious examination. Increasingly when practitioners are specialising in particular areas of law they are less likely than their predecessors were to have a general knowledge of the working of most areas of the law. Suggestions have from time to time been made that some panel might be established which would approve candidates for appointment to the judiciary. Such panels operate in very large jurisdictions such as the United States in respect of appointments to the Federal Judiciary. In a small community it could be invidious to have a panel having the exclusive right to make recommendations for such appointments even if such procedure were politically acceptable. The introduction of a system of monitoring candidates through part time appointments should lessen the need for further monitoring. If it is still found advisable to have some external monitoring system it might be possible to adopt a vetting procedure whereby the Government of the day would submit a list of prospective appointees to the monitoring panel who could indicate if any of the prospective appointees were deemed to be unsuitable. In this way the Government would retain its control over the making of the appointments while the screening process would rule out those who were for one reason or another consided to be unsuitable candidates. Under our Constitution judges once appointed are only removable from office by joint resolution of the Houses of the Oireachtas. This is clearly an important bulwark in the independence of the judiciary. It does not however follow that judges need necessarily be appointed for life. Whether it is wise to appoint persons in their 30's to a position which they will hold until they are at least 65 must be open to question. Judges are not immune to the frailties of human nature and can become as different and testy as time passes as the next man. There may well be a case for putting a time limit, perhaps a period of 20 to 25 years, on the period for which a judge should serve. •

73

Irish Apprentices at Jessup Moot

76

Society of Young Solicitors 21st Anniversary Seminar

79

Reciprocity of Qualifications and Employment Opportunities Abroad

81

Deposits on New Residential Properties

83

Building Defects and Latent Damage

89

Crossword

97

Dail Debates

99

Education Note

99

Practice Notes Professional Information

102

Mary Buckley William Earley, Chairman John F. Buckley Gary Byrne Geraldine Clarke Charles R. M. Meredith Michael V. O'Mahony Maxwell Sweeney

Executive Editor: Editorial Board:

Advertising: Printing:

Liam O hOisin, Telephone 305236 Turner's Printing Co. Ltd., Longford

The views expressed in this publication, save where other- wise indicated, are the views of the contributors and not necessarily the views of the Council of the Society. The appearance of an advertisement in this publication does not necessarily indicate approval by the Society for the product or service advertised. Published at Blackhall Place, Dublin 7.

71