Paul Murphy: Judge abuse of power and failed investigations
Paul Murphy spoke about allegations of abuse of power by retired judge James O'Connor and argued that established complaint routes had failed. He said the woman who complained was dismissed by the Gardaí as "a normal situation" despite being vulnerable in a family law context.
Allegations of conduct
He described how the judge obtained the woman's number in court while she was before him on a family law matter, then pursued her persistently and inappropriately in a way that made her afraid.
Account of official responses
Murphy said the first woman went to the Gardaí and was told there was nothing to investigate and that it was "a normal situation - boy meets girl". He said she contacted GSOC and "got no joy", and that she wrote letters while his own emails received no response.
Claims about institutional awareness
Murphy said FOI material indicates the Chief Justice and the Minister for Justice were aware of the matter. He warned that without brave women speaking out, nothing would have happened in this case.
Calls for systemic change
He argued that action and change are needed so people in these circumstances are not subjected to abuse of power arising from the imbalance between judges and vulnerable people. He insisted existing agencies must work diligently and properly.
Next steps and dilemma
Murphy acknowledged the difficulty of pursuing every case individually, noted the fundamental issues raised, and said he will consider how to proceed in relation to the matter.
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When I first raised the abuse of power by retired judge James O'Connor the Taoiseach replied to me saying it is clear to me that there are avenues for people to deal with the abuses of power but what is precisely demonstrated by this case is that those avenues did not work and so the first woman went to the Gardaí and she was told that there was nothing to investigate and that it was quote a normal situation boy meets girl it was anything but a normal situation. It was judge in court meets vulnerable woman who's in front of him as a result of a family law issue and he gets her number in the context of that he gets the number in court and then uses that to pursue her completely inappropriately and persistently in a way that made her scared for a sexual relationship she went to GSOC she also got no joy she made contact I think she wrote two letters to your office and I wrote two letters or two emails to you with no response we understand from FOIs that the Chief Justice was aware of it that the Minister for Justice was aware of it again unless she had very bravely decided to speak out which she absolutely shouldn't have to do and I pay tribute to her and to the other women speaking out then absolutely nothing will be happening in relation to this case so we need action we need change to ensure that people in these circumstances are not subjected to the kind of abuse of power in the imbalance of power situations that exist between judges and people in people in front of them. has to work our existing agencies have to work and do their job diligently and properly because there's a fact that we have a range of inquiries if you recall some years ago arising out of a very big case there was a whole range of cases were submitted to the then Minister for Justice for review and the Oireachtas and the Executive can never replace the operational agencies and institutions that have been established by the the Oireachtas to deal with the Oireachtas to deal with these issues and there's a real dilemma here in terms of how we can individually pursue every single case and this does raise very fundamental issues I don't dispute that and I'm going to give a consideration to see how we proceed in relation to it.
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