Another thread on the Seamus Wolfe issue: Lots of people seem to be calling on the CJ to take action but he has no legal or other authority to force Mr Justice Wolfe to resign. The most he can do is to have a conversation about his position.
However, public confidence in the admin of justice is one of the key principles underpinning the system of justice in Ireland and if confidence is affected it is a very serious matter. Will people have confidence in the system if they feel the position of a SC judge is untenable?
Also, the Judicial Council does not have a role because the relevant sections concerning the judicial conduct committee have not yet been commenced. This is because a guide to conduct and ethics must first be drawn up as well as info on informal processes and sanctions.
So the only formal action that can be taken is if the Oireachtas decides to trigger Article 35.4.1 of the Const to remove the judge. However, this can only happen in the context of 'stated misbehaviour'. What is that? We don't actually have a definition - this is a problem
This is something the Judicial conduct committee may address in its guide to judicial conduct and ethics but at present we have no guidance or precedent as to what constitutes misbehaviour for the purposes of removal as a judge.
If there is any doubt over whether something constitutes misbehaviour, this would make it very difficult for a removal procedure to go ahead.
