High Court reserves judgment on Karolis Peckauskas’s fair-trial challenge

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

The High Court has reserved judgment on Karolis Peckauskas’s challenge to the Explosives Act, which he argues makes it too difficult for him to receive a fair trial. His prosecution has been stayed until the challenge is resolved.

Peckauskas, 39, is charged with possessing four threaded pipe end caps and six litres of hydrogen peroxide at O’Moore Place, Portlaoise, in circumstances that gave rise to a reasonable suspicion that he did not possess them for a lawful purpose. He has not entered a plea. The allegations have not been determined.

His lawyers argue that section 4 of the Act requires him to prove he possessed the material for a lawful purpose, contrary to constitutional and European human-rights protections. On Wednesday, Judge David Keane reserved judgment in the judicial review.