Ross slams ‘secretive’ judicial appointments

Ex-minister speaks out as former AG is made a judge

‘It’s all just too close’

FORMER minister Shane Ross has described the process which has led to recent attorney general Séamus Woulfe being made a Supreme Court judge as ‘incestuous’.

The ex-transport minister, who lost his Dáil seat in February’s general election, also called the State’s judge selection process ‘secretive’ and ‘flawed’.

Mr Ross said yesterday what worries him is that Mr Woulfe’s application was ‘judged by people who know him very well’ and that some of the judges who Mr Woulfe appointed when he was attorney general are now ‘sitting in judgment’ on his selection.

Mr Woulfe previously described plans by Mr Ross to reform the judiciary in 2018 as a ‘dog’s dinner’. But Mr Ross denied there were any sour grapes on his part, and said Mr Woulfe had gone on to amend his Judicial Appointments Commission Bill and steer it through.

Taoiseach Micheál Martin has denied there was any political wrangling over the nomination of the long-term Fine Gael supporter, who will be appointed a Supreme Court judge just two weeks after leaving his post as attorney general.

Mr Martin said the appointment ‘had nothing to do with Government formation talks whatsoever’.

But Mr Ross, who drove an ultimately unsuccessful move to reform the judicial appointments system in recent years, said the process of appointing judges remained ‘extraordinarily opaque’.

He said: ‘I knew Séamus Woulfe well, and he was a very fine lawyer and a very fine attorney general as well. But I find the process – and this was our problem throughout the period of government and beforehand – the process of appointing judges is extraordinarily opaque. In other words, you don’t see what’s happening. And this is another one of those, unfortunately.

‘What we have is an announcement that Séamus Woulfe, former attorney general, is being made a judge, and then you ask the question, how? And then you come across a brick wall of silence.’

Mr Ross, a former TD for Dublin Rathdown, was an architect of the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill, which was passed by the Seanad but stalled in the Dáil.

The controversial Bill was widely opposed by judges and senior legal figures, in particular because of provisions such as having a lay majority and chair on the proposed appointments commission.

The long-delayed Bill lapsed when the Dáil was dissolved for the general election, but Mr Ross has said he is hopeful it will be revised.

Mr Woulfe was nominated on foot of a recommendation from the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board, which Cabinet ratified on Wednesday. He will be formally appointed by President Michael D Higgins.

The board is chaired by Chief Justice Frank Clarke, and includes the presidents of the High Court, Court of Appeal, Circuit Court and District Court, as well as the Attorney General.

Three years ago, Mr Martin was critical of Leo Varadkar after it emerged former attorney general Máire Whelan was appointed to the Criminal Court of Appeal.

The Fianna Fáil leader described the appointment as ‘directly political’ after it emerged it was agreed at Enda Kenny’s last cabinet meeting as taoiseach.

But in a statement issued by the Taoiseach’s office this week, it said: ‘The nomination of Mr Woulfe follows a recommendation by the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board, which is chaired by the Chief Justice.’

After the Cabinet meeting on Wednesday, Mr Martin said: ‘A judicial appointment board appointment is that, I can’t interfere in that – nor would I attempt to.’

Talking to Sarah McInerney on RTÉ radio yesterday, Mr Ross praised Mr Woulfe, but said the system was ‘flawed’. ‘It is all very secretive,’ he said, adding: ‘What worries me is that the attorney general [then Mr Woulfe] withdraws, but his application is being judged by people who know him very well.

‘And Séamus Woulfe is a man of absolute integrity, but he would have been involved in the appointments of some of these judges while he was there, including the Chief Justice. And… they would now be sitting in judgment. It’s just all too close.’

He said his Bill had proposed that the board be chaired by an independent person, and have an independent lay majority. ‘Otherwise we have too many judges who all know each other, and it all gets too incestuous,’ Mr Ross added.

The new Attorney General is Paul Gallagher SC, who has taken the position for the second time.

Mr Woulfe will now fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Judge Mary Finlay Geoghegan. Ministers also agreed to nominate solicitor Mary Morrissey for appointment to the Circuit Court.