Ireland: Retired judge allowed to return to bar

Following Mr Justice Max Barrett’s ruling published last week, Mr White, 71, will be allowed to practice before the Circuit Courts and beyond once more.

The Justice Minister’s decision to exclude Mr White from a panel of barristers eligible for criminal legal aid work has been quashed.

Mr White’s inclusion had been refused on the basis that only a barrister subject to regulation by the Bar Council could be included.

However, there is no legal requirement for a barrister to be regulated by the Bar Council. The court heard that barristers who are not members of the Bar are regulated via judicial supervision and the Disciplinary Committee of King’s Inns.

The disputed Bar Council rule which prevents Mr White from being readmitted to the bar has not been overturned.

Mr Justice Barrett also declined to award damages to Mr White or to find there had been a breach of his rights under the European Convention on Human Rights.

Some barristers have expressed misgivings over the outcome.

Members of the Law Library told The Irish Times they felt the decision damaged the independence of the judiciary, and they would feel uncomfortable practising alongside Mr White.

One barrister said: “It’s like the school principal is now sitting next to you in class.”

Another barrister suggested Ireland should have a judicial council responsible for training judges, dealing with complaints against them, and - critically - overseeing rules for judges who want to return to practise, calling it a “scandal” that this does not exist.

The full ramifications of Friday’s ruling are not immediately clear.

A spokesperson for the Bar Council of Ireland told our sister publication Irish Legal News: “The Council of The Bar of Ireland notes the judgment delivered by the High Court and will examine it in further detail in the coming days.

“The Council of The Bar of Ireland welcomes the Court’s rejection of the case against us and welcomes the Court’s explicit finding that the Council did not err in law in any way.”