More than €38,000 spent on sending judges abroad for training

Ken Foxe

More than €38,000 has been spent sending judges abroad for training or conferences over the past year with a string of luxury hotels booked and accommodation on some trips costing up to €290-per-night.

The Judicial Council said that all bookings were made “as economically as possible” even though some of the hotel reservations were made at five-star establishments.

A database of costs includes expenditure of more than €3,000 for two judges to stay at the five-star Divani Caravel in Athens for the three-day annual conference of the European Association of Judges in early June.

The Judicial Council also paid out €4,969 for accommodation at the four-star Room Mate Aitana in Amsterdam last August for a “train the trainer” event for judges.

According to an invoice they provided, that covered the cost of eight rooms, seven booked for two nights and one for three nights, with the average overnight cost coming in at around €290.

A five-star hotel in London was also booked for one trip last October for four judges at a cost of €2,670.

Accommodation was in the five-star Chelsea Harbour Hotel with the Judicial Council saying the lodgings had been chosen by the hosts for the conference in the UK.

Other hotels booked for trips included the famous Fairmont Chateau Laurier in Ottawa, Canada, the luxury four-star Hilton Edinburgh Carlton, the boutique Indigo Hotel in the Hague, and the Intercontinental David in Tel Aviv, Israel.

Overall, the Judicial Council spent more than €20,000 on hotel accommodation over a 12-month period.

A further €14,000 was spent on flights, around a third of that for a business class journey to Canada for a judge for a conference of the International Organisation for Judicial Training.

There was also around €600 in miscellaneous bills covering taxi fares and train tickets according to a database of spending released under FOI.

Overall, expenditure on overseas travel for the council was €41,150, from which there was €2,811 refunded where a judge was a guest or invited as a speaker.

Asked about the expenditure, the Judicial Council said all overseas travel was arranged to help them fulfil their role and that arrangements were made as economically as possible.

A statement said: “In the case of flights, all flights are economy unless greater than six hours in duration and/or in exceptional or extenuating circumstances, where different considerations may apply.

“In the case of hotel accommodation, regard is also had to the recommendations or the advice of the host judicial body, the security of judges, and proximity to the meeting or conference venue, including the availability of accommodation at that venue.”