Judicial Appointments Commission Act 2023

(ii) the judicial office of judge of the European Court of Human Rights, any recommendations, resolutions, decisions or guidelines of the Committee of Ministers concerning the procedures for selection of candidates for that judicial office, and

(iii) the judicial office of judge of the International Criminal Court, any recommendations, resolutions, decisions or guidelines of the Assembly of State Parties or its subsidiary organs concerning the procedures for selection of candidates for that judicial office,

and

(c) in the case of the matters required to be demonstrated in accordance with section 58(3)(a), whether or not an applicant already holds judicial office.

60. Transitional arrangement: no judicial selection statement

60. (1) Subsection (2) shall apply where, during the period commencing on the coming into operation of section 46 and ending on the date of the publication of the first judicial selection statement under section 57, an invitation to apply for judicial office issues under section 42.

(2) For the purposes of section 46, the Commission shall—

(a) apply—

(i) where a statement of selection procedures is adopted under section 57, the procedures set out in that statement, or

(ii) where no such statement stands adopted, such procedures, consistent with section 59, as are determined by the Commission,

and

(b) require an applicant to possess—

(i) where a statement of requisite knowledge, skills and attributes is adopted under section 57, the requirements set out in that statement which are applicable to the judicial office to which the application of the applicant relates, or

(ii) where no such statement stands adopted, such requisite knowledge, skills and attributes, consistent with section 58, as are determined by the Commission.

61. Review by Commission and recommendations

61. (1) The Commission shall monitor and review—

(a) the implementation of this Act, including in particular—

(i) the practical operation and application of the judicial selection statement,

(ii) the qualifications and requisite knowledge, skills and attributes required for recommendation of persons for appointment and for nomination for appointment or election to judicial office,

(iii) the effectiveness of the procedures, set out in the statement of selection procedures, in achieving the objectives set out in section 39(2) in relation to membership of the judiciary in each court,

(iv) the effectiveness of the administrative support provided by the Office to the Commission, and

(v) the adequacy of the functions assigned to the Commission,

and

(b) international developments in the selection, recommendation and appointment of persons to judicial office, including any international instruments and conventions relevant to such selection, recommendation and appointment.

(2) The Commission may commission research into the qualifications and other requirements for recommendation of persons for appointment and nomination for appointment or election to judicial office.

(3) A review under subsection (1) shall be conducted not later than 2 years after the coming into operation of this section and, thereafter, from time to time as the Commission may determine.

(4) The Commission shall, following a review under subsection (1), prepare a report of the findings of the review and set out such recommendations (if any) relating to the implementation of this Act as it considers appropriate.

(5) The Commission shall submit a report and recommendations prepared under subsection (4) to the Minister for his or her consideration.

(6) The Minister may, having considered a report and any recommendations submitted to him or her under subsection (5) and having consulted with the Minister for Foreign Affairs, provide his or her views to the Commission on the implementation of any of those recommendations and may identify other actions, arising from his or her consideration of the report and recommendations, for consideration by the Commission.

(7) The Commission shall report to the Minister on any implementation measures it takes in respect of recommendations made by it or in respect of actions identified by the Minister for consideration by the Commission under this section.

PART 6 Amendment of Act of 1961 and Other Enactments

62. Amendment of Courts of Justice Act 1936

62. The Courts of Justice Act 1936 is amended—

(a) in section 14, by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (3):

“(4) In this section, ‘practising barrister’ has the same meaning as it has in the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015.”,

and

(b) in section 51, by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (3):

“(3A) In this section, ‘practising barrister’ has the same meaning as it has in the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015.”.

63. Amendment of Act of 1961

63. The Act of 1961 is amended—

(a) in section 2, by the insertion of the following definition in subsection (1):

“‘the Act of 2015’ means the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015;”,

(b) in section 5—

(i) in subsection (2), by the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph (c):

“(d) A judge of the District Court who has served as such a judge for a period of not less than 2 years shall be qualified for appointment as a judge of the High Court.”,

and

(ii) by the insertion of the following subsections after subsection (7):

“(8) Section 45A provides an additional basis for qualification for appointment as a judge of the Supreme Court, the Court of Appeal or the High Court.

(9) In this section, ‘practising barrister’ has the same meaning as it has in the Act of 2015.”,

(c) in section 17, by the insertion of the following subsections after subsection (5):

“(6) Section 45A provides an additional basis for qualification for appointment as a judge of the Circuit Court.

(7) In this section, ‘practising barrister’ has the same meaning as it has in the Act of 2015.”,

(d) in section 29, by the insertion of the following subsections after subsection (4):

“(5) Section 45A provides an additional basis for qualification for appointment as a judge of the District Court.

(6) In this section, ‘practising barrister’ has the same meaning as it has in the Act of 2015.”,

(e) by the insertion of the following section after section 45:

“Qualification of certain legal academics for appointment and for nomination for appointment or election to judicial office

45A. (1) A person shall be qualified for appointment and for nomination for appointment or election to judicial office (within the meaning of the Judicial Appointments Commission Act 2023) where he or she—

(a) is for the time being—

(i) a legal academic of not less than 12 years’ standing who has been employed as such for a continuous period of not less than 2 years immediately before such appointment, or

(ii) subject to subsection (4), the head of a faculty who within the period of 12 months prior to becoming the head of that faculty was either—

(I) a legal academic of not less than 12 years’ standing (2 of which years shall have been continuous), or

(II) the head of another faculty of not less than 4 years’ standing (2 of which years shall have been continuous),

(b) is a qualified barrister (within the meaning of the Act of 2015) or a solicitor who has not been struck off the roll of solicitors (within the meaning of the Act of 2015), and

(c) has practised as a barrister or solicitor for a continuous period of at least 4 years.

(2) For the purposes of subsection (1), a person is a legal academic where he or she is a permanent member of the academic staff of an educational establishment who—

(a) teaches one or more subjects in the field of law, or

(b) carries out, or supervises the carrying out, of research in one or more such subjects,

whether or not in conjunction with the carrying on by him or her of administrative duties relevant to that teaching, research or supervision.

(3) In computing, for the purposes of subsection (1)(a), the period of time that a person is required to have been a legal academic—

(a) a period of time, other than immediately before such appointment, served by a person as head of a faculty shall be deemed to be a period of time served by him or her as a legal academic, and

(b) a period of time spent by a person successively in employment as a legal academic in 2 or more educational establishments shall be aggregated.

(4) A reference to a person being, or having been the head of a faculty (including the reference to having been the head of another faculty) shall be construed as a reference to being, or having been, in an educational establishment, the dean, director or other overall head (by whatever name called) of a department, school or other faculty where the responsibilities of that person include the carrying on of the activities referred to in subsection (2).

(5) In this section—

‘educational establishment’ means—

(a) a university to which the Universities Act 1997 applies,

(b) a technological university (within the meaning of the Technological Universities Act 2018),

(c) the Honorable Society of King’s Inns,

(d) the Law Society of Ireland, or

(e) an establishment, equivalent to one referred to in paragraphs (a) to (d), in a place outside the State.”,

and

(f) in the Sixth Schedule—

(i) in paragraph 2, by the insertion of the following subparagraphs after subparagraph (4):

“(5) A person who is to be appointed, or who is appointed, a district judge who wishes to express an interest in being assigned by the Government under subparagraph (1), (2) or (4), or in being transferred by the Minister under subparagraph (3), as the case may be, to a particular district, may forward an expression of such interest to the President of the District Court.

(6) The President of the District Court shall forward any expression of interest received by him or her under subparagraph (5) to the Government or the Minister as appropriate.

(7) An expression of interest referred to in subparagraph (5) shall not be forwarded by the person expressing the interest, or by any person on his or her behalf, to any person other than the President of the District Court.”,

and

(ii) in paragraph 3, by the insertion of the following subparagraphs after subparagraph (5):

“(6) A district judge who wishes to express an interest in a temporary assignment under any of the preceding subparagraphs to a particular district may forward an expression of such interest to the President of the District Court.

(7) An expression of interest referred to in subparagraph (6) shall not be forwarded by the district judge concerned, or by any person on his or her behalf, to any person other than the President of the District Court.”.

64. Amendment of Courts Act 1973

64. Section 2 of the Courts Act 1973 is amended by the substitution of “practice as a barrister” for “practice at the Bar” in each place it occurs.

65. Amendment of Courts Act 1977

65. The Courts Act 1977 is amended—

(a) in section 2, by the insertion of the following subsections after subsection (7):

“(8) A person who is to be appointed, or who is appointed, a judge of the Circuit Court who wishes to express an interest in being assigned by the Government under subsection (2), (3), (5) or (6), or in being transferred by the Government under subsection (4), as the case may be, to a particular circuit, may forward an expression of such interest to the President of the Circuit Court.

(9) The President of the Circuit Court shall forward any expression of interest received by him or her under subsection (8) to the Government.

(10) An expression of interest referred to in subsection (8) shall not be forwarded by the person expressing the interest, or by any person on his or her behalf, to any person other than the President of the Circuit Court.”,

and

(b) in section 2A, by the insertion of the following subsections after subsection (6):

“(7) A person who is to be appointed, or who is appointed, a specialist judge of the Circuit Court who wishes to express an interest in being assigned by the Government under subsection (2) or (4), or in being transferred by the Government under subsection (3), as the case may be, to a particular circuit, may forward an expression of such interest to the President of the Circuit Court.

(8) The President of the Circuit Court shall forward an expression of interest received by him or her under subsection (7) to the Government.

(9) An expression of interest referred to in subsection (7) shall not be forwarded by the person expressing the interest, or by any person on his or her behalf, to any person other than the President of the Circuit Court.”.

66. Amendment of section 22 of Act of 2001

66. The Act of 2001 is amended by the substitution of the following for section 22:

“22. (1) The Judicial Appointments Commission shall not recommend a person under section 47 or 48 of the Judicial Appointments Commission Act 2023 for appointment or for nomination for appointment or election, as the case may be, to judicial office (within the meaning of that Act) unless the person has furnished to it the documents specified in subsection (2).

(2) The documents referred to in subsection (1) are—

(a) a tax clearance certificate issued to the person not more than 18 months before the date of the recommendation, and

(b) a statutory declaration made by the person not more than 3 months before that date to the effect that, at the time of the making of the declaration, the person is, to the best of his or her knowledge and belief, in compliance with the obligations specified in subsection (1) of section 25 and that nothing in subsection (2) of that section prevents the issue to him or her of a tax clearance certificate.”.

67. Amendment of section 36 of Judicial Council Act 2019

67. The Judicial Council Act 2019 is amended by the substitution of the following section for section 36:

“36. The Minister may, with the consent of the Minister for Public Expenditure, National Development Plan Delivery and Reform, determine the amount or amounts, for the purposes of expenditure by the Council in the performance of its functions, which shall from time to time be advanced by the Courts Service to the Council out of moneys provided to it by the Oireachtas.”.

PART 7 Dissolution of Judicial Appointments Advisory Board and Related Provision

68. Amendment of section 36 of Judicial Council Act 2019

68. (1) The Judicial Appointments Advisory Board is dissolved.

(2) On the coming into operation of this section all records which, immediately before such coming into operation, were records of the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board shall be records of the Commission and shall, accordingly, be transferred to the Commission.

(3) Any legal proceedings pending immediately before the coming into operation of this section to which the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board is a party shall, on that coming into operation, be continued with the substitution in the proceedings of the Commission for the Board.

69. Status of certain recommendations made by Judicial Appointments Advisory Board

69. On and after the dissolution of the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board under section 68, no appointment to a judicial office shall be made pursuant to a recommendation, made before that dissolution, by the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board under section 16 of the Act of 1995 in relation to that office.