DPP appeal follows acquittal of two men on IRA membership charges

This report is a localnews.ie summary based on public court reporting and records; sources are listed below.

Two men acquitted of IRA membership charges at the Special Criminal Court were the subject of a Director of Public Prosecutions appeal, reported on 19 May 2021.

The Court of Appeal granted the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission leave to act as amicus curiae in the case. The Commission said it would assist the court on the balance between protecting Garda investigations and the accused persons’ right to a fair trial.

The acquittals followed the Special Criminal Court’s exclusion of belief evidence from a detective chief superintendent. The court’s decision followed the officer’s refusal to provide information underlying his belief and the DPP’s decision that prosecuting counsel would not review the Garda witness’s file for possible disclosure to the defence.

The DPP appeal challenged the exclusion, arguing that the trial court had wrongly excluded compelling evidence.

This report covers an earlier stage of the case. Later developments are not reported here.