The Judicial Appointments Advisory Board was established pursuant to the Court and Courts Officers Act 1995. The purpose of the board, simply put, is to identify persons and inform the Government of the suitability of those persons for appointment to judicial office. By definition, the board's remit is advisory and the ultimate decision as regards appointments of persons to the Judiciary rests with the Government.
The board consists of the Chief Justice, the Presidents of the High Court, Circuit Court and District Court, the Attorney General, nominated representatives of the Bar Council and the Law Society and three lay persons nominated by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. Section 14 of the Act enables the board to adopt such procedures as it thinks fit to carry out its functions. In practice, the board places advertisements for applications for judicial appointments in the national press and requires applicants to complete a detailed application form which includes questions on their practice, their professional qualifications, education, character etc.
Under section 16 of the Act, where a judicial office stands vacant or before a vacancy in a judicial office arises, the board, at the request of the Minister, submits to the Minister the names of all persons who have informed the board of his or her wish to be considered for appointment to that judicial office and the names of at least seven persons whom it recommends for appointment. With one exception, since the Act came into operation, persons have been appointed on foot of the recommendation from the board. In the sole exception where it did not happen, the person had been previously recommended and it was not possible in the unique circumstances of the case to go through the advertising process on a second occasion.
The Government, when advising the President on the appointment of a person to a judicial office, must first consider persons who have been recommended by the board. It is important to note that the board cannot submit nor recommend the name of a person unless that person meets the eligibility criteria set out by law for the post in question.
The board cannot recommend the name of any person unless, in the opinion of the board, the person concerned has displayed in his or her practice as a solicitor or barrister a degree of competence and probity appropriate to and consistent with the appointment concerned, is suitable on grounds of character and temperament, is otherwise suitable for appointment, complies with the provisions on taxation and undertakes to undergo training. Those are the criteria by which the Judicial Appointments Advisory Boards operates. It gives a shortlist to the Government, from which the Government selects.