Graham Dwyer data law challenge continues over murder conviction

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

Graham Dwyer challenged Ireland’s data retention law in the High Court over phone data used in his murder conviction, in a report published on 9 March 2018. His lawyers argued that the 2011 Act breached his privacy rights and that much of the State’s evidence was irrelevant to the challenge. The State disputed those submissions and defended the retention regime as necessary for investigating serious crime.

The challenge concerned data generated by Dwyer’s phone and retained in October 2013 before relevant European Court of Justice rulings. Dwyer sought declarations under Irish, European and EU law, while the State argued that the processes allowing prosecutors to use the data were valid. The case was due to continue the following week.