We were discussing the qualifications which the commissioner is required to have. It would be a good idea to incorporate reference to the qualifications with specific reference to experience of human rights issues.
I worked for a short time in the human rights section of the UN as a human rights fellow in the period 1978-79. It struck me that there were very few people working in that section who had any experience. They were excellent people — technocrats — who had come through the diplomatic services, but none of them had ever argued a human rights case in the field. It did not appear that there was anybody who had come through the NGO circuit.
I would be horrified if we were to include a barrister or solicitor. With due respect to both august professions, the occupation of, or training in either profession does not necessarily make them human rights activists. However, I do not suggest that human rights activists are the only people who should comprise the commission.
I recall studying the implications of ombudsman legislation in various parts of the world. Two people struck me as the most unsuitable people to be ombudsmen. Yet, of all of those I met, they were the most extraordinary. One of them was a Jesuit priest, Fr. Ignatius Killaje, who was the Ombudsman in Papua New Guinea. He became a figure of mythic proportions; his judgments were the judgments of Solomon. He appears not to have had the necessary qualifications — he had not been through the administrative circuit, he did not have the training in public administration and all the things we used to consider necessary — yet he brought an extraordinary abundance of common sense and humanity to the job. It elevated the post.
The other person was an Ombudsman in Alberta, a retired police chief, who also appeared to be unsuitable. I asked him what was the best qualification he had for the job. He told me he had never read the Ombudsman Act. He was not overly fussed with a too fine attention to the detail of the law that established his position; he was interested in the principle.
It is important that we look for somebody who has a track record, experience and has shown some dedication to the concept of human rights. One of the biggest problems in Irish life, and administrative life everywhere, is that very worthy people come through the administrative processes and at the end of their days are appointed to positions. We did not do this when appointing either of our Ombudsmen. The appointment of Michael Mills was inspirational. He got the office off the ground because he was not part of the administrative culture. He looked at it fondly — not in a destructive way — from outside. This humanity was reflected in the way he applied himself to his office.
If we appoint people from a specific profession — for example, a retired judge or retiring senior civil servant — the necessary additional fire that should be in the position could be missing. It would be a good idea to make reference to human rights experience in the Act if possible, or certainly in the criteria for establishing who should take this position.
