Vol. 520 No. 3
6 Mr. Farrelly asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the number of judges appointed by him to the various courts since his appointment as Minister; the number of female judges; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [15486/00]
As the Deputy is aware, judges are appointed by the President acting on the advice of the Government. Since the Government came into office a total of 29 appointments have been made to the various courts of which four were women. Three of these women were new appointees to the Bench. The procedures laid down in Part IV of the Courts and Court Officers Act, 1995, involving the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board, were followed in all cases. The full details are as follows: the Supreme Court – four appointments, of which two were new appointees to the Bench and two were promoted from the High Court; one of these judges is a woman; the High Court – ten appointments, of which eight were new appointees to the Bench and two were promoted from the Circuit Court; one of these judges is a woman; the Circuit Court – five appointments, of which three were new appointees to the Bench and two were promoted from the District Court; one of these judges is a woman; the District Court – ten appointments, of which one is a woman.
In addition, appointments have been made to the Offices of Chief Justice, President of the High Court and President of the Circuit Court, all from within serving judges of their respective courts.
(Mayo): I draw the Minister's reply to the attention of his colleague, the Minister of State, Deputy Wallace, the police woman on behalf of the equality agenda.
Police person.
(Mayo): Four female appointments out of 29, with one female out of ten in the District Court, puts in clear perspective the Government's sense of balance in terms of equality. Does the Minister accept there is a need for much greater female representation at all levels of the Judiciary?
We have two women judges in the Supreme Court for the first time in the history of the State. I dare say this compares favourably with many other countries, and I wish to say how distinguished both judges are. We have two women High Court judges, again distinguished people, and another woman judge of that court was appointed last year to serve on the European Court of Justice, the first woman to be appointed to that court from any member state. We have five women Circuit Court judges and nine women District Court judges, all of whom are distinguished.
The Government does not have a free reign in the matter of judicial appointments. The Deputy will be aware that under the Courts and Court Officers Act, 1995, the Minister is supplied with a list of recommended names for judicial appointment from the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board. Neither is it particularly useful to look at trends over relatively short time periods or to draw inferences from that exercise as to whether women are being treated fairly in the matter of judicial appointments. What is clear is that the situation has improved and that it is incumbent upon all of us to do all we can to ensure that in this and all other areas we leave no grounds for suggestions of discrimination on the basis of sex.
We must also realise that, so far as I am aware, the number of male senior counsel available for appointment to the Bench in the Law Library far outweighs the number of females.
Does the Government apply the quota system to judicial appointments as was employed by the previous Administration? Are guidelines available or given to the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board in relation to gender matters? When will the Courts and Court Officers Bill, promised for this session, be before the House? Will the issue of gender equity be considered in the Bill? When will the report of the committee chaired by Ms Justice Denham into judicial matters be concluded and when will legislation be introduced in that regard?
There are a number of important questions, not least of which is when the Courts and Court Officers Bill will be before the House. I anticipate and hope it will come before the House in the autumn, but I cannot be absolutely certain.
Will it be published this session?
Unfortunately, I do not believe it will be published this session because of the amount of legislation we are currently pushing through the House and of which Deputy Howlin is well aware.
The issue of proportionality in terms of gender is one which is dear to my heart, and I would like to see a far greater degree of participation of women in posts of responsibility in the State. That is not to say there are not many women in posts of responsibility, there are, but in the higher grades of the Civil Service and in the Judiciary we could have a far greater proportion of women. In so far as we can we try to adhere to the guidelines to which Deputy Howlin referred, 40% is the norm. This can be very difficult in terms of the appointment of judges because the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board puts forward the names—
Are the guidelines given to the board?
The Minister is obliged to have regard to what it says. It, in turn, in so far as I am aware, is governed by the Courts and Court Officers Act. So far as I can recall there is no statutory obligation on it to make absolutely certain that 40% are women.
(Mayo): When does the Minister anticipate the vacancy in the Supreme Court will be filled? I understand an appointment is pending.
I hope the vacancy will be filled in the near future. The procedure is that the Judicial Appointments Commission is written to to put a number of names before the Minister of the day who decides the name to be recommended to the Government. In the case of the Supreme Court, as in the case of other courts, it is possible for promotions to take place. Normally – not always – Supreme Court vacancies are filled from the ranks of sitting High Court judges. There has been at least one appointment however in recent times where the person concerned – a very distinguished judge – came straight out of the Law Library as a senior counsel and into the Supreme Court.
