Brian Curtin - Attempted Impeachment

Attempted Impeachment

There was considerable public outcry in response to the acquittal. Online opinion polls showed little support for his continuing to serve on the bench. Curtin refused a Government request to step down, claiming that constitutionally he could only be removed for "stated misbehaviour". The Irish Times urged him to resign to prevent a constitutional crisis.

In June 2004 Justice Minister McDowell moved an impeachment motion in the Dáil, saying Curtin was "unsuitable to exercise the office of a judge of the Circuit Court". This was an unprecedented move in Irish judicial history. The Irish constitutional judicial removal proceedings, commonly referred to as impeachment, had never previously been invoked. The Dáil suspended the motion and established a joint Oireachtas select committee to examine the evidence. This inquiry was challenged by Judge Curtin in the courts. The challenges were unsuccessful and following a Supreme Court ruling in March 2006 upholding the process, the select committee took custody of the computer from the Gardaí and hired experts to examine it. Curtin suggested that malware could have downloaded the pornographic images his computer without his knowledge. The process took longer than expected but they planned to issue a report to the Oireachtas in late 2006 to facilitate a debate and vote.

In November 2006, Judge Curtin resigned from the judiciary on health grounds, ending the investigation. This occurred days before he was to give evidence in private to the committee, and days after he had completed five years on the bench, the minimum sufficient to qualify for a pension.