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The Hon. Mrs. Justice Susan Denham Chief Justice, the Supreme Court

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The Hon. Mrs. Justice Susan Denham Chief Justice, the Supreme Court The Hon. Mrs. Justice Susan Denham 2 pages ‘cc’ interested parties Chief Justice, The Supreme Court, Four Courts Dublin 7 August 2nd 2016 (For the personal attention of the Chief Justice) Dear Chief Justice Denham; Previous correspondence refers. I write in context of several previous letters of complaint addressed to you personally dating back to February 2014, outlining various unlawful, unconstitutional and criminal acts being committed on a regular basis by various Courts Service Staff, State Solicitors, County Registrars and Judges – and I note that other than two responses from Courts Service Staff in 2014 which basically state that there’s nothing you personally can do about what’s going on – that we received no further acknowledgements or responses to some seven additional correspondences nor to the many serious questions raised, and no indicator whatsoever from any of the State Offices approached of any ongoing efforts to curb the blatant criminal activity ongoing in our Courts. It is our understanding Justice Denham that you are a decent person who is trying to do an honest job, and if we are to take your many public speeches and articles at face value, it seems you are also an enthusiastic advocate for urgent judicial reform. This is reassuring to those of us who are being so scandalously treated by the establishment, and who are being contemptuously stonewalled at every step by persons in the pay of the State whose statutory responsibility is supposedly, ‘to uphold the law and the Constitution – in service to the public’. But the reality is completely the opposite, with hundreds of documented incidents where persons in the pay of the state (including far too many judges) are actively, deliberately and knowingly abusing their positions of power and authority to undermine the law and obstruct and pervert justice. Many such complaints have been documented by the Integrity Ireland project, and I have personally brought dozens of these complaints directly to the attention of our so-called ‘statutory authorities’ including to An Garda Síochána HQ; to GSOC; to the Minister for Justice and to the Courts, but with little or no result other than the usual generic fob-offs, lies, obstructions, delays, cover-ups and obfuscations, and lame (and often misleading) excuses for non-action. When those complaints concern issues of the gravest and most fundamental importance to the very fabric of our society including some of the most outrageous breaches of our fundamental rights being committed in our Courts – well, you will understand Justice Denham why we feel it is both prudent and necessary to approach you as the Chief Justice ‘in writing’ one final time for clarity on the following questions, which, despite having been put several times to various judges, Ministers and State agencies, we cannot get even one straightforward response. 1. Are Irish judges subject to the law and the Constitution? 2. Are members of the public entitled to a fair hearing in the Irish Courts? 3. Are Judges of the District and Circuit Court obliged to adhere to Supreme Court rulings, decisions and directions? 4. When a person in the pay of the State commits criminal offences, are they subject to justice in our Courts in the same way as the tax-paying public is? 5. When judges deliberately break the law, the Constitution, their solemn Oaths of Office or any other Act or Statute in the Courtroom – does this, or does this not render that particular hearing invalid? 6. Are members of the public obliged to comply with unlawful, unconstitutional or criminal directions from an authority figure such as a Garda, the Courts Service or the Judiciary? 1 7. Am I, (or any other law-abiding member of the public) safe from assault, injury or incarceration in the Courtroom, as long as we are NOT engaged in any unlawful activity? 8. What procedures or processes exist to protect the public from serious misconduct on the part variously of; (i) judges of the District Court; (ii) of the Circuit Court; (iii) of the High Court; (iv) of the Court of Appeal; and (v) of the Supreme Court. 9. Why did Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald lie in a signed letter stating, (i) there was no statutory procedure to enquire about misconduct by District Court judges, and (ii) that she had “no role” (to play) in advancing a formal application signed by thousands of members of the public and submitted via two sitting TD’s demanding the impeachment of a local Judge. 10. Why are State-sponsored lawyers being paid €800 per hour (often for years) to defend other wrongdoers in the pay of the State in cases which are utterly indefensible and bound to fail? To a certain extent Justice Denham, questions 1-8 are largely rhetorical because, as you surely know, the answers are already laid out clearly and explicitly in the Constitution. However, this seems to mean little or nothing to various agents of the State – including a great many judges – who, when presented (courteously and professionally) with the various ‘errors’ they are committing, have in many cases compounded matters further by; (a) coldly ignoring the issues raised; (b) by shouting and reacting aggressively; (c) by refusing to allow litigants to speak; (d) by ordering unlawful assaults on litigants; (e) by refusing legitimately-submitted applications; (f) by threatening litigants with jail for ‘contempt’; (g) by abandoning their own Courts; (h) by restricting or denying public access to the Courtroom; (j) and actually jailing people for alleged ‘contempt’ in circumstances so contrived and unsound as to beggar belief. Notwithstanding the rulings of the European Court of Human Rights (see pp 175-178 of the Integrity Ireland SOS Guide) which effectively prohibits any given judge from making a finding of ‘contempt in the face of the Court’ in their own Courtroom, the fact of the matter Justice Denham is that many of our Courts (and especially the lower Courts it seems) are operating in flagrant breach of our fundamental rights in a manner that is utterly inconsistent with legal precedent and recent Supreme Court rulings, and are relying instead on direct intimidation, aggression, the presence of dozens of (often-agitated) Gardaí, and on unsound and even bizarre ‘findings’ and rulings by judges who seem incapable of managing their own Courtrooms in a fair, composed and professional manner without reverting to old-fashioned bullying, threats, intimidation, belligerence and thuggery – and this doesn’t even take into account the unmerciful arrogance of State-sponsored solicitors and barristers who think nothing of routinely lying, forging, stealing or committing various underhanded or fraudulent acts for their own venal benefit – and all at the great and lasting expense of the Irish public. To conclude Justice Denham, it has always been my sincere intention to respect the probity and integrity of our justice system and comply with its lawful demands, but what is going on at present is far, far from being lawful and I cannot, in good faith, be complicit in unlawful, unconstitutional or criminal activity – especially not when it places me in danger of physical injury and possible unlawful incarceration. Accordingly Justice Denham, and in the failure of any other Irish authority figure to do so; I am pleading with you personally as the Chief Justice of Ireland to please answer the questions posed and by doing so deliver a simple certificate that affirms our fundamental and Constitutional rights and ensures my own personal safety – and that of scores of other concerned litigants – in some real, pertinent and immediate way that cannot be misinterpreted, ignored or dismissed in our Courts. Thank you kindly for your time and consideration. Sincerely, Stephen Manning, Mountain, Forthill, Ballyhaunis, Co. Mayo (A member of Integrity Ireland and independent candidate for Co. Mayo) 2 .
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