Criminal Law, Civil Law and Defence (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026: Report and Final Stages
Seanad Éireann — 2026-07-02
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Jim O'Callaghan (FF), Dublin Bay South

Currently, section 12 of the Bill amends section 67 of the Courts of Justice Act 1936 which provides for the Superior Courts rules committee to allow the Chief Justice to nominate an ordinary judge of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal or High Court to take his or her place on the committee. It also reduces the number of ordinary judges of the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal on the committee from two judges from each court to one. These changes are being introduced to try to reduce the very significant non-judicial workload of the Chief Justice. Amendment No. 8 proposes to substitute section 12 to, in addition to the matters I have set out, also provide that the Chief Justice may separately nominate another judge of the committee as chair of the Superior Courts rules committee and to provide that such nomination may be revoked at any time.
Amendments Nos. 9 to 17, inclusive, amend section 14 of the Bill, which itself amends sections 12 and 44 of the Judicial Council Act, which provide for membership of the board of the Judicial Council and the judicial conduct committee. Currently, section 14 amends the 2019 Act to provide that the Chief Justice may nominate another judge of the Supreme Court, Court of Appeal, High Court, Circuit Court or District Court to perform his or her functions as an ex-officio member of the board and of the judicial conduct committee rather than just a judge of the Supreme Court, as is currently the case. The proposed amendments provide for the revocation at any time of a nomination to act as chair of the board of the judicial conduct committee. They also substitute certain references to "nominate" with "nominate in writing" to align with existing provisions in the 2019 Act.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-07-02/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:09+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-07-02