Lawyers back Seámus Woulfe over judicial appointments bill criticism

Prominent lawyers have given backing to Attorney General Séamus Woulfe SC after he called the Judicial Appointments Bill a “dog’s dinner”.

Speaking at a lunch hosted by the Association of European Journalists in Dublin, Mr Woulfe (pictured) also said he believed the bill was “unconstitutional”, The Irish TImes reports.

His remarks have been met with fury by the Government, but backed by a range of prominent lawyers.

Employment law specialist Richard Grogan said: “When the AG Seámus Woulfe, a man known for his honesty and integrity coupled with a brilliant legal mind, felt it necessary to describe the Judicial Appointments Bill as ‘dog’s dinner’, we should all sit up and listen.

“In my respectful opinion judicial appointments are so important for the proper administration of justice that those comments need to be carefully listened to and acted upon. Currently there are significant delays in cases being dealt with due to lack of judges. I admire the AG Seamus Woulfe for having the moral strength of speaking out.”

Fianna Fáil justice spokesperson Jim O’Callaghan, himself a barrister, said the remarks should be a “wake-up call” for the Government.

Mr O’Callaghan said: “It is not acceptable for a Government to sit back and allow flawed legislation to be introduced in a bid to keep Minister Ross on board.

“The European Commission has already stated that the Bill does not conform to European standards, which specify that a substantial part of the members of the judicial appointments body should be judges.

“At no stage has the Government ever explained the public policy reason for reducing judicial involvement in the proposed board and replacing this expertise with people who have no knowledge of which candidates are suitable, or characteristics required, for judicial appointment.

“The intervention by the Attorney General should mark the death knell for this deeply flawed Bill. The Justice Minister needs to intervene immediately and scrap this deeply flawed legislation.”