When did Judge Curtin cease to be a citizen?
Friday April 30 2004
The fundamental law of this State, whether we like it or not, is that all citizens are innocent until proven guilty. That is the law of the land and means what it says, and says what it means, and is not, thankfully, an idle cliche. That simple, plain and unambiguous tenet applies to all of us be we in an 'ivory tower' by way of Government appointment or of an unprivileged status, not of our own making.
The verdict of the jury was unambiguous and crystal clear that Judge Curtin was not guilty of all charges before the court. The verdict was not that he was not guilty but we have our suspicions. Neither the jury or the judge stated such nor did they say that the Government could second-guess the decision, nor that they would have a second bite of the cherry or that Judge Curtin could be tried by some other means.
This means that nobody has the right to dismiss or deprive somebody of their livelihood or avoid their contractual rights on the grounds of mere supposition. To do so would be a grave injustice and that should be clear to even the most sceptical.
The unvarnished truth, and the Government has to face up to it, is that they have by their own default no proper mechanism, practice or procedure whereby they can dismiss a judge in these circumstances, especially when he has been cleared by a court of competent jurisdiction appointed by the Government itself. Despite their neglect and their abject failure to address the situation over the years since the Sheedy affair, they are now again wallowing in the misconception that they can circumvent their own incompetence with a slap-stick and 'slightly constitutional' remedy.
Believe it or believe it not, that golden principle was made law by the Oireachtas and to date upheld scrupulously by the judiciary. Is this about to change? To judge by what appears to be the present Government's efforts to dispense justice through the media by way of megaphone 'diplomacy' and double justice or injustice, one could conclude that there are deliberate and calculated attempts by those charged with upholding the law to dispense with natural and constitutional justice by foul means.
Alas, the exigencies of the situation do not afford the Government an unfettered licence to trample and play hardball with the provisions of our Constitution, which specifically upholds the right of every citizen to fair play, natural justice and equality of treatment. This is despite what appears to be premeditated attempts by the Government through the media to impose maximum pressure and undue influence on Judge Curtin to fall on his sword and to forgo his constitutional rights. It could be Judge Curtin today and you tomorrow. It would appear that such jackboot tactics are a clear attempt to circumvent the presentation of their case (if any) before the courts where they would be guaranteed to receive short shrift, if not in this jurisdiction then in the European Courts of Human Rights.
You don't need to be an Attorney General, an ex-Attorney General or, for that matter, a Philadelphia lawyer to advise our Government that they are bound by their contractual obligations, freely entered into at their own behest with Judge Curtin, and no amount of what appears to be threats, hedging or dodging or ducking or diving will save the blushes of an obviously embarrassed Government, together with all their major participants in this sorry debacle. The Government appears to think that it is all duck or a dog's dinner.
If the Government wishes to disagree and inevitably waste more of our taxpayers' money with lengthy litigation, then it should ponder the following. Justice Minister Michael McDowell told the Annual Conference of the Garda Representative Association in Donegal on Tuesday that gardai who face investigation by the Ombudsman Commission will have exactly the same rights as other citizens.
He told the annual conference that members of the Force would have the right to silence and the right against self-incrimination. He said and I quote: "There is no question of the constitutional rights of gardai being infringed in any way." He said: "No such proposal would withstand judicial scrutiny and would ever be made by me in the first place". I agree with that and that is the whole point of my argument, but pray tell me when did Judge Curtin cease to be a citizen?
Brendan T Muldowney, Solicitor, Church Street, Longford
