It appears that moves are under way again to complete proposals for the establishment of a judicial council to deal with judicial conduct, education and training.
Legislation providing for such a body is long overdue and would have saved both the Government and the judiciary considerable embarrassment and difficulty had it been enacted earlier.
A case in point is that of Judge Brian Curtin of the Circuit Court who in 2004 was acquitted on a technicality of possessing child pornography, leading to a proposal in the Oireachtas for his impeachment. Five years earlier two judges resigned following controversy over the early release from prison of Philip Sheedy who had been sentenced to four years for causing death by dangerous driving. The late chief justice Liam Hamilton found Mr Justice Hugh O'Flaherty's conduct had damaged the administration of justice while Judge Cyril Kelly had behaved in a manner unbecoming of a judge.
Following that episode, Mr Justice Hamilton's successor, Mr Justice Ronan Keane, presided over a committee which produced a comprehensive report on a judicial council, including a disciplinary code for judges, a mechanism for representing them, and provision for education and training. This report went to the government almost eight years ago. Draft legislation was prepared but never published. Three and a half years later the Curtin affair erupted and the legislation was put on hold.
It appears now that the proposed legislation does not follow the recommendations of the Keane report in all respects. It provides for greater lay participation in the disciplinary process and pays little attention to his proposal that the judicial council should have a representative function. There are likely to be fears among the judiciary that the legislation could compromise its independence.
The separation of powers between the legislature and the judiciary is a key component of our democracy. That is not to say, however, that legislation is not needed to establish a judicial council.
Neither the judiciary nor the Government can afford another Sheedy or Curtin affair. Even mundane complaints of discourtesy on the part of judges or, more seriously, of poor judgment on the part of individual judges illustrate the need for a framework in which such issues can be resolved. And there is merit too in Mr Justice Keane's recommendation that the proposed body should have a representative function - if only to spell out publicly the judiciary's constitutional role. This would seem a good time to make progress in this important area.