EARLIER THIS month a sitting of the District Court in Killucan, Co Westmeath. was cancelled when the presiding judge, John Neilan, did not appear following a number of clashes with Garda witnesses at court hearings. A week earlier he had accused gardaí of behaving in an "appalling and outrageous fashion", and threatened to have a Garda inspector committed for contempt of court, in connection with the remand of a case to Tullamore District Court.
The background to this row and the responsibility for it is not known, but it illustrates once again the vacuum that exists in relation both to judicial conduct and to issues that members of the judiciary may have with other individuals and organisations.
In February this year Judge Neilan severely criticised the Courts Service, describing it as "totally, absolutely, utterly incompetent from the CEO down". This prompted an unprecedented response from the Courts Service, which outlined measures it had taken to deal with organisational issues in the Midland District Court area, and Judge Neilan's refusal to engage with them.
However the Garda Síochána, the DPP, on whose behalf they appear, and the Courts Service, have no effective avenue through which they can direct issues they may have with any member of the judiciary. On the other hand, no member of the judiciary has any avenue through which he or she might address issues, even of a minor or routine nature, with any of these organisations, other than the president of his or her jurisdiction and, ultimately, the Chief Justice.
Proposals for a Judicial Council, which could address these matters, have been around for eight years now, since a report on the matter was prepared by a committee chaired by the then Chief Justice Ronan Keane. The report provided for a representative body for the entire judiciary, with subcommittees to deal with judicial conduct and ethics, judicial training and the pay and conditions of judges.
It also provided for various sanctions for judges who breached a judicial code of conduct, ranging from a private reprimand to a recommendation that the Oireachtas take the steps provided for in the Constitution to remove the judge in question. It could also recommend education or training in specific areas.
There were a number of matters on the desk of the new Minister for Justice, Dermot Ahern, when he took office. One of these was the long-awaited Judicial Council legislation, which is now in the hands of a two-person working group set up last April to advance a Judicial Council Bill. The working group is made up of a representative of Chief Justice John Murray and of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform.
When it was set up the then minister, Mr Lenihan, expressed confidence that the details of the proposed Bill could be finalised in the reasonably near future. It is to be hoped that Mr Ahern will ensure that no more time is lost and bring it forward as soon as practicable.