Justice Committee hits back at late judge's criticism
Members of an Oireachtas Justice Committee tonight defended the judiciary despite criticism from a late High Court judge that his former peers were influenced by the media and public opinion.
In a letter published after his death, Mr Justice Sean O’Leary suggested judges were being swayed by public feeling and accused them of trying to curry favour with a potentially hostile media.
Mr Justice O’Leary also accused the country’s most senior judges of populism.
He highlighted the controversial Mr A case last June, which saw a convicted sex offender released by the High Court after the statutory rape law was struck out, only to be re-arrested by order of the Supreme Court the following week.
Fine Gael’s justice spokesman and Oireachtas Justice Committee member Jim O’Keefe TD tonight said the court’s decision was correct.
“The Supreme Court had to make a very difficult decision and it was a unanimous decision,” he said.
“They were facing the prospect of paedophiles being released all over the country. They did give a very clear basis for their decision. I respect Judge Sean O’Leary’s views but personally I think the Supreme Court made the correct decision.”
The comments follow a dispute between senior judges and Tánaiste and Minister for Justice Michael McDowell after he urged them to ensure tough laws on bail and sentencing for serious drugs and gun crimes are put into practice.
The latest remarks come as Chief Justice John L Murray prepares a submission for the Tánaiste on plans for a judicial council to provide a code of conduct for judges and a procedure for complaints.
Labour TD Kathleen Lynch noted that a separation of powers must continue to exist between the judiciary and the state.
“Judges aren’t a law unto themselves. They are accountable with all the appeal procedures we have, so we cannot start blaming the judges and say they are unaccountable,” Ms Lynch said.
Colm O’Gorman, director of One In Four, which supports victims of sex abuse, insisted the judiciary is always aware of public feeling despite claiming complete independence.
“I’m not aware of many examples of the Supreme Court taking views or decisions based on media or public opinion. Judges make it clear that they won’t be swayed in their views by public opinion and that’s the way it should be,” he said.
“It’s not for me to make judgment as to whether the Supreme Court were influenced by public opinion. The fact the court’s decision was to overthrow the law and order the release of Mr A showed that they were not preoccupied with public opinion.
“But you’d want to be living in cloud cuckoo land to think that judges would not be aware of what public opinion was.”
Barrister Claire Hamilton, chairwoman of the Irish Penal Reform Trust, also supported some of the late judge’s comments and added the Supreme Court was influenced by the media frenzy at the time.
Mr Justice Sean O’Leary, who died at Cork University Hospital on December 22, said he had identified a number of trends of particular concern in the justice system.
“They all share one common thread, that is, a harsh, populist approach to those persons who stand accused of socially unacceptable crimes.
"There appears to be a failure by the courts, up to and including in particular the Supreme Court, to vindicate the legal rights of the morally undesirable or socially unacceptable,” the letter stated.
The late judge continued: “The lengths to which the Supreme Court went to obfuscate the fact that the continued detention of a prisoner in an Irish jail (in fact the re-arrest of a released prisoner) for an offence that did not exist in law at the date of his conviction, smacks of an attempt to curry favour with a potentially hostile media.”
He also highlighted the refusal to grant legal aid to disgraced former Garda Superintendent Kevin Lennon who was sacked for corruption during inquiries at the Morris Tribunal.
The judge also attacked the creation of the Personal Injuries Assessment Board, set up to speed up claims.
