Flanagan has ‘open mind’ on structure of judicial appointments commission

Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan has an “open mind” on the structure of the new Judicial Appointments Commission so long as it has a lay chair and a lay majority, The Irish Times reports.

The Government’s controversial Judicial Appointments Bill, currently being scrutinised by TDs, provides for a 13-member commission with a number of 11-member subcommittees.

Members of the Oireachtas justice committee have voiced concern that the structure of the committee is too “unwieldy”.

Mr Flanagan told the committee that he kept an open mind on the exact numbers and make-up of the commission and its subcommittees, explaining: “Ultimately the aim is to reform the process. There may be a different way of achieving the objective.”

However, he stood by the Government’s commitment to have a lay majority on the new commission and said he did not believe the numbers in the five proposed subcommittees were unwieldy.