Former judge's lawyers return €977,000 for inquiry costs

LAWYERS FOR former judge Brian Curtin have returned a cheque for almost €1 million which was issued by the Oireachtas to meet his legal costs incurred at an impeachment inquiry into his fitness to be a judge.

A meeting of the commission of the Houses of the Oireachtas last week decided to send the €977,000 fee to the lawyers, intended as full and final payment more than a year after negotiations on the costs began.

It is understood the commission offered the €977,000 fee a number of times to the lawyers, who were seeking € 1.9 million for representing Mr Curtin at the inquiry. On each occasion the amount was turned down. The former judge never attended hearings, but his lawyers represented him at some 35 meetings of the inquiry.

Members of the commission did not believe the €1.9 million represented reasonable expenses, and to finalise the matter issued the cheque for just under €1 million. This has been returned to the commission, it emerged yesterday.

The long-standing row over fees follows an impeachment inquiry by a committee of the Oireachtas after charges of possession of child pornography against the former Circuit Court judge were dropped. The case ended in 2004 when a warrant to search his home, when a computer was seized, was ruled out of date.

When the Government initiated the impeachment proceedings, Mr Curtin challenged the constitutionality of the Oireachtas committee to investigate. The Supreme Court ruled in 2006 the inquiry could go ahead and the former judge was entitled to his costs. Mr Curtin resigned in November 2006 on grounds of ill-health, shortly before he was due to appear before the committee. The committee then decided not to proceed with its inquiry.

Lawyers later billed the Oireachtas for their representation at the inquiry in a two-volume itemised bill. Mr Curtin was represented by Co Kerry solicitors Robert Pierse and senior counsel and former attorney general John Rogers.

In light of the Supreme Court ruling on fees, the commission felt obliged to pay fees. The State had paid €1.2 million in costs incurred by Mr Curtin for the court case and the commission believed much of the inquiry work was duplicated effort.

The commission also believed if the case went back to court it would cost the Oireachtas and taxpayers a lot more, and decided to issue the cheque in hopes it would be accepted as final payment.

Fianna Fáil Senator and former commission member Jim Walsh dissented when the commission decided in April 2010 to negotiate fees. Mr Walsh said yesterday he was “appalled that a person in a responsible State position would have used the courts to obstruct a committee of the House, then to concede and resign when all the legal hurdles were overcome by the committee, and then to issue an outlandishly outrageous bill for legal representation”.

Fianna Fáil justice spokesman Dara Calleary said this highlighted the importance of the referendum in October on the powers of Oireachtas committees. A spokesman for the Oireachtas commission declined to comment on the issue.

Lawyers for Mr Curtin could not be reached last night.