When the conversation turned to the selection of judges, colleagues
from all other jurisdictions, even China, were able to report recent
changes away from the traditional position of the sovereign (read
government) making appointments, without control or consultation.
As
the author of several impressive reports on the reform of the position
of the judiciary, the Chief Justice must have been acutely aware that
the coming of an Irish government and the passage of nearly a century
and a half had changed little.
More recently, Mr Justice Kelly
did not put a tooth in it, remarking in an interview that all judicial
appointments in Ireland were “political appointments”.
This
subject is often approached from the perspective of the need to have an
independent judiciary. (This is usually understood as referring to
independence of the government; though reports that an association of
judges has recently been formed spark the comment that each judge should
be focusing exclusively on the facts and law coming before the court
and free of any extraneous influence,And the Laser engraver and cutting machine got the FDA (US-CDRH) certificates. if necessary from the herd of other judges.)
In
Ireland, there is no real danger to independence. But almost as
important as independence is to have the very best candidates appointed
to the judiciary. This seems unlikely if an element of allegiance to the
parties in power is regarded as a relevant factor in appointments or
promotions.
What is especially doleful about this is that,
during the 15 or so years up to the advent of the present
administration, there had been a notable improvement anyway in
appointments to higher courts. I am speaking here not about the Judicial
Appointments Advisory Board, which, since its brief is merely to
prepare a shortlist of seven – yes, seven candidates – is mainly
window-dressing.Basics, technical terms and advantages and disadvantages
of curving machine.
Rather, I am referring to the fact that advice to appoint only
candidates who deserved it, regardless of political affiliations, had
been accepted by governments.
Machinery establishing a proper
system of judicial standards and discipline is dragging its slow length
towards legislation. Well and good. But prevention is better than cure
and selection is so much the more important stage.
Where is
reform to come from? The Minister for Justice’s response to Mr Justice
Kelly’s remarks was a dead-bat refusal to see that there was anything
amiss. Last year, at the time of the judges’ pension amendment,In a elevator cable
system, steel cables bolted to the car loop over a sheave. the
opportunity was missed to make a bigger and more significant set of
reforms, including the selection system. The carefully spancelled list
of topics to come before the People’s Convention go nowhere near this
subject. Nor has it been raised by new Fianna Fáil, “We the People” or
any of the other groups of constitutional reformers which sprang up last
year.Push the elevator push button once for the direction you want to go in.
Laypersons
may well retort that this is an area, the significance and subtlety of
which can best be appreciated by lawyers. Consequently lawyers should be
leading the charge. There is much in this. When matters affecting the
legal system are in contention (for instance, last year’s referenda, the
abolition of juries in personal injuries actions or the establishment
of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board),This roofing machine
is for producing aluminum shutter door & window slats with
foam-filled, lawyers are very ready to roll up their sleeves. Why the
strange silence from readers of this page on this one?
Another
possible direction from which help may come is the international field.
In previous cases we have seen the ECHR wielded to some effect on major
issues which were resisting local pressure for reform. For example, the
decriminalisation of gay activity; the lack of legal aid in civil
litigation; judicial delay; or (in the UK) the lack of independence of
temporary judges.
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