Barristers and the Separation of Powers

paky

I noticed alot of members of the law society where i come from are members of Fianna Fail and other political parties. If these guys go on to become Barristers or solicitors would this violate the doctrine of the separation powers? Members of the gardai and the army are not allowed to be members of political parties as far as im aware whether this has anything to do with this topic.

johnnyskeleton

You don't seem to understand the following things:

1) law society
2) barristers
3) solicitors
4) the concept of the separation of powers
5) Irish political history, including the professions of most of our Taoisigh.

234

What johnnyskeleton is saying, a little harshly, is there is no real seperation of powers issue. Gardai and the army are eminations of the executive branch of government. Barristers and solicitors, while officers of the courts, are not part of the executive. So as they are not part of a branch of the state they can't come into conflict with another branch in a way that raises seperation of powers concerns. The ban in the gardai and army is more for historical reasons than anything else.

johnnyskeleton

234 wrote: »

What johnnyskeleton is saying, a little harshly, is there is no real seperation of powers issue.

I don't mean to be unduly harsh, but I think the OP could do with a few clarifications on the above things and might want to look into them a bit more.

There is an interesting policy argument about the connection between Irish politics and the practice of law, but the OP should understand a bit more about the basic nature of both before getting into it.

For example, is it not a bit strange that the appointment of the AG has become a clearly political position recently with the AG now holding a more formal position at the cabinet table. Apart from anything else, it is best practice to obtain your legal advice from someone impartial. By having the AG as part of the government, the ability of the AG to remain impartial when advising can become strained.

The connection between political affiliations and state legal contracts being awarded to certain firms / barristers being put on certain state panels is a matter of public interest that people should look into.

234

I'd agree that the realtinoship between the executive and the legal profession is slightly more nuanced but there is no prima facie seperation of powers issue with a barrister being a member of FF.

nuac

Re AG - hasn't this always been a political appointment, and entitled to attend cabinet meetings?

dynamokev

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

You don't seem to understand the following things:

1) law society
2) barristers
3) solicitors
4) the concept of the separation of powers
5) Irish political history, including the professions of most of our Taoisigh.

The level of intellectual snobbery on these boards is quite astonishing at times.

Jo King

nuac wrote: »

Re AG - hasn't this always been a political appointment, and entitled to attend cabinet meetings?

The AG attends cabinet meetings does not vote and by convention, does not contribute, unless invited to comment on a legal issue. The situation can be quite extreme when the AG is a member of the Oireachtas as well. In that situation the AG has judicial, executive and legislative roles.
There is clearly potential for conflict between the AGs public law roles and the executives political desires. The like situation arises where public bodies maintain a panel of lawyers in private practice and instruct them in cases against the themselves of the government. How independent is a lawyer in a situation where a large part of their remuneration is coming from a single source?

MrPudding

Jo King wrote: »

The situation can be quite extreme when the AG is a member of the Oireachtas as well. In that situation the AG has judicial, executive and legislative roles.

Very similar to the old Lord Chancellor role in the UK, though Labour somewhat reduced the problem there.

MrP

dynamokev

dynamokev wrote: »

The level of intellectual snobbery on these boards is quite astonishing at times.

Doesn't mean johnny wasn't right.

paky

tuigim anois.

Reloc8

paky wrote: »

I noticed alot of members of the law society where i come from are members of Fianna Fail and other political parties. If these guys go on to become Barristers or solicitors would this violate the doctrine of the separation powers? Members of the gardai and the army are not allowed to be members of political parties as far as im aware whether this has anything to do with this topic.

Nah.

johnnyskeleton

dynamokev wrote: »

The level of intellectual snobbery on these boards is quite astonishing at times.

To be fair if I wandered onto the soccer forum and asked whether people think Manchester Wanderers should be expelled from the UK Leage A because they haven't scored enough trys in the world series, would I be given a different reception?