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January start for judicial-appointments body

A new independent body that will select and recommend judicial appointments is to begin its work on 1 January next year.

The Government is describing the establishment of the Judicial Appointments Commission (JAC) as “the most substantial reform in the way judges are chosen for appointment in almost 30 years”.

The Minister for Justice Helen McEntee has now signed a commencement order for the Judicial Appointments Commission Act 2023 that sets up the JAC, which will be chaired by the Chief Justice Donal O’Donnell.

Membership

The Supreme Court upheld the bill’s constitutionality last year after it had been referred to the court by President Higgins. This followed concerns expressed by bodies such as the Law Society, as well as the chief justice, about the composition of the JAC.

The commission’s membership includes four members of the judiciary, four lay members, and – in a non-voting capacity – the Attorney General.

The minister said that the new system would ensure a “rigorous, transparent, and merit-based application process” for appointment as a judge. The JAC’s remit will cover judicial offices in EU and international, as well as Irish, courts.

The existing Judicial Appointments Advisory Board will be dissolved on 1 January.

The other members of the JAC are:

• Ms Justice Caroline Costello (President of the Court of Appeal),
• Attorney General Rossa Fanning SC,
• Ms Justice Mary Rose Gearty (High Court),
• Judge Alan Mitchell (District Court),
• Bernie Gray (expert in human resources and governance),
• Dr Eleanor O’Higgins (adjunct associate professor, College of Business, UCD, and associate, London School of Economics and Political Science,
• Dr Rónán Kennedy  (associate professor in the School of Law, University of Galway), and
• Dr Terrence McWade (former chief executive of the Royal College of Physicians of Ireland).

‘Important development’

Under the changes, the JAC will recommend three candidates for a vacancy and an additional two recommendations for a second and additional vacancies. This would mean seven recommendations for three vacancies.

Only candidates recommended by the JAC can be nominated by the Government for appointment by the President.

All nominees will have been interviewed, while the new commission will also have the objective of ensuring that membership of the judiciary reflects the diversity of the population.

Chief Justice O’Donnell described the establishment of the new body as “an important development in the history of the Irish judiciary”.

He added that empowering an independent commission to recommend fewer persons for judicial appointment than the previous system would bring Ireland “closer into line” with international requirements and would be an important safeguard for judicial independence.