Press release
Minister McEntee confirms the selection process for the nomination of a new Chief Justice
Published on
Last updated on
Published on
Last updated on
The Minister for Justice, Helen McEntee TD, has announced that the government, at its meeting today, has agreed a process for the nomination of a person to be appointed as Chief Justice by the President. The current Chief Justice, the Hon. Mr. Justice Frank Clarke, is due to retire in October 2021.
The Government Secretariat will establish a non-statutory Advisory Committee to assist with identifying eligible and qualified persons, including serving judges, for the post of Chief Justice. It will consider their suitability and make recommendations to the Minister for Justice on preferred candidates.
The non-statutory Advisory Committee will comprise a senior member of the judiciary, the Attorney General and a lay member and will establish its own procedures for inviting and assessing expressions of interest from applicants, including serving judges.
The procedures of the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board (JAAB), as set out in the Courts and Courts Officers Act, 1995, as amended, do not apply to the appointment of the Chief Justice.
The approach set out by Minister McEntee follows similar processes to those used for the appointment of the Chief Justice in 2017, the President of the Court of Appeal in 2018, the Presidents of the Circuit Court and the District Court in 2019, the President of the High Court in 2020, and the President of the District Court in 2021.
Section 5 of the Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act, 1961, as amended, sets out the qualifications required for appointment as the Chief Justice.
The Programme for Government provides that the government will introduce legislation to replace the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board (JAAB) with a new Judicial Appointments Commission with Chief Justice as Chairperson. When established this new Commission will cover the nomination process for appointment to senior judicial positions, including Chief Justice.
The government approved the General Scheme of a Judicial Appointments Commission Bill on 15 December 2020 to provide for the establishment of a new Commission to replace the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board.