In 'Serving the People?', solicitor-turned-mediator Michael Williams analyses five recent Supreme Court decisions, finds them deeply flawed and concludes that the judges have been 'breaking down the boundary that separates them from lawmakers, and occupying territory where they are trespassers'. Williams, who spent 30 years as a solicitor, states: 'if ultimate political power is vested in the Supreme Court, then Ireland is no longer a democracy'.  He then toys with what would be the right name for such a state - an oligarchy of judges or the more obscure term of 'kritarchy'. 'This may seem extreme, but I think it is the effect of the Damache decision,' he adds.

Brilliant advocates

In a wide-ranging book - which also covers the pay of lawyers and judges, the litigation system and recent attempts at reform - he also concludes: ' "Brilliant" advocates who become judges have, in my view, almost always been poor ones'.