The Government has nominated six county registrars for appointment as specialist judges of the Circuit Court, creating a new cadre of judges in a move that has been sharply criticised by the judiciary.
The role of specialist judge was created under the Personal Insolvency Act to allow the Circuit Court to deal quickly with insolvency applications.
The six nominees approved by Cabinet yesterday – five solicitors and a barrister – were selected from nine applicants and will earn the current salary of a Circuit Court judge appointed since January 2012, which is €140,623.
Registrars nominated
The nominated county registrars, who must be appointed by the President, include Verona Lambe, a solicitor who previously worked for the Legal Aid Board and is registrar for Offaly; Patrick Meghan, a solicitor, barrister and former coroner who is registrar for Limerick; and Mary O'Malley, a solicitor who began her career at Gallagher Shatter – the firm where Minister for Justice Alan Shatter was a consultant until 2011 – and has been registrar for Meath since 2007.
The other nominees are Mary Enright, a solicitor who has been county registrar for Kilkenny since 1985; solicitor William Lyster of Roscommon; and solicitor Susan Ryan, registrar for Dublin since 1999.
Public row
The appointment of specialist "insolvency judges" was one of the key points of dispute in the public row that broke out between the judiciary and Minister for Justice Alan Shatter recently. Neither serving judges nor practising lawyers will be eligible for such appointments until 2014, and judges say they are concerned that such a far-reaching change was enacted without any notice or debate. They also say the specialist judges, unlike all others, will be subject to ministerial direction concerning sittings, and claim the selection criteria represent a dilution of judicial independent from government.
Defending the new regime, Mr Shatter has said insolvency judge posts go before the Judicial Appointments Advisory Board, which recommends "appropriate" individuals for nomination by Government. Apparently alluding to some judges' characterisation of county registrars as civil servants, a Government statement yesterday referred to "these independent office-holders" who had the "necessary legal qualifications".
