Dáil Éireann Debate, Wednesday - 18 December 2019
219. Deputy Robert Troy asked the Minister for Justice and Equality if he will publish the membership of the Judicial Council; and if the chairperson has given a timeline as to when the guidelines for general damages will be published [53778/19]
View answerThe Judicial Council was established with effect from 17 December 2019. As outlined in section 8 of the Judicial Council Act 2019, all members of the judiciary are members of the Judicial Council.
Committees of the Judicial Council will be established by the Council having regard to the timelines set out in the Judicial Council Act 2019. The Personal Injuries Guidelines Committee is to be established no later than 3 months after the first meeting of the Judicial Council itself, and that Committee is to meet no later than one month after its establishment. The Personal Injuries Guidelines Committee will be responsible for drawing up personal injuries guidelines for adoption by the Council. Section 18(4) of the Judicial Council Act 2019 provides that the “Personal Injuries Guidelines Committee shall submit the first draft of personal injuries guidelines to the Board not later than 6 months after the date on which the Committee stands established.”
On 28 November the Chief Justice announced the membership of the Personal Injuries Guidelines Committee which is to be chaired by Ms Justice Mary Irvine. While the Committee cannot be formally established until the first meeting of the Judicial Council, a “committee designate” held its first meeting during the course of the week beginning 1 December to embark upon appropriate planning and preliminary work.
