Justice Minister slates ‘abhorrent’ way judicial reviews are frustrating vital housing projects
Justice Minister Jim O'Callaghan - speaking at the Liam Lynch commemoration at Kilcrumper in north Cork - said legislative changes were required because of the manner in which judicial reviews were being used to undermine projects for the public good.The Dublin TD acknowledged that the country faces a significant challenge in terms of the ongoing delivery of housing and infrastructure."The challenges the State faces today in the delivery of housing and infrastructure are being compounded by the utilisation of our laws in certain circumstances to delay, obfuscate and undermine the efficient delivery of vital projects which would benefit our communities and the common good as a whole," he warned."In particular, the utilisation of judicial reviews to prevent the delivery of vital accommodation, transport or environmental projects because of technical breaches of statutory rules or procedure is abhorrent to the common good."In any republic, laws are there to serve the common good and the people who put them in place through their democratically elected representatives."They should not be viewed as a game that can be won or lost depending on absolute compliance with our ever-growing statutory architecture or rules of procedure."I think it is obvious that, at this time of a housing emergency and infrastructural deficit, our increasingly impactful and expansive judicial review process must be curtailed."Mr O'Callaghan said that he is convinced action has to be taken."I have asked my Department to bring forward proposals to rebalance the judicial review procedure to ensure that the common good and public interest are at the centre of any judicial review process, in particular when examining vital infrastructure and housing projects,” he said."Fianna Fáil, the Taoiseach (Micheál Martin) and its ministers believe in homeownership to advance the social and economic welfare our people."We have to bring new thinking to ensure that objective becomes a reality. The laws of our Republic must serve our people, not act as barriers to their progress. That is what those who believe in the Republican tradition stand for."Mr O'Callaghan said he anticipates broad support for the measures."I want to bring forward new legislation - a Civil Reform Bill - that will reform how civil litigation operates in Ireland at present," he said."Very many of the sections and proposals within it are based on the report produced by the former President of the High Court Mr Justice Peter Kelly."But in the area of judicial review I think it is important that we rebalance the rights of the public at large with the rights of individuals who are taking judicial reviews on the basis of breaches of statutory schemes or procedures."I think we need to ensure that when it comes to judicial reviews the common good is taken into account and not just the technical violation of the statutory scheme or not."We need to ensure that people taking judicial reviews have an actual interest in the process and that they are not simply taking it for the purpose of it suiting their own agenda."
