The drawing up of a judicial code of ethics and major reform of disciplinary procedures for senior judges are recommended in a report on courts and the judiciary published yesterday.
The report from the All-Party Committee on the Constitution recommends a change in the Constitution to allow for a Supreme Court or High Court judge to be removed from office only after being referred to the Dail or Seanad for investigation.
The procedures, similar to the disciplinary process which applies to the Presidency, would require an amendment to Article 35.4 of the Constitution.
The report, titled The Courts and the Judiciary, proposes an attempt to bring a charge against a judge before either House of the Oireachtas should be allowed only with a notice of motion signed by not fewer than 30 members of that House.
Such a proposal can be adopted by either of the Houses only if there is a majority in favour.
When a charge is made to either House, says the report, the other House shall investigate the charge. The report said the investigative procedure should be decided by legislation.
A judge would have the right to appear and to be represented in the investigation. If found guilty by a majority, the Taoiseach would notify the President who would dismiss the judge. The report reveals that the Ceann Comhairle, Mr Seamus Pattison, wrote to party leaders on April 20th, following the resignation of Supreme Court judge Mr Hugh O'Flaherty and High Court judge Mr Cyril Kelly as a result of the Philip Sheedy controversy, expressing concern about impeachment procedures.
Mr Pattison said "in the light of recent events" the All-Party Committee on the Constitution should examine procedures.
He said it was generally acknowledged that Article 35.4 of the Constitution, which deals with the impeachment process, needed to be improved to correspond with modern requirements of fair procedure.
"Obviously the constitutional dimension to the issues arising from recent events need to be addressed in addition to other aspects of this matter referred to in the Dail on the statements on the early release of Philip Sheedy."
The report also recommends the establishment of a Judicial Council to draw up a judicial code of ethics. The council would be made up of members of the judiciary, retired judges and lay people. The chairman of the committee, Mr Brian Lenihan, said this detail would be determined by law.
The code of ethics should look at various issues, such as whether a judge could become a member of a charitable organisation which may look for funds from the Government, whether a judge could join a political organisation and whether judges should disqualify themselves in cases due to conflict of interest.
At the launch of the report yesterday, Mr Lenihan said that at the heart of the approach taken by the committee was the conviction that the courts established by the people in the Constitution should be independent and beyond reproach.