The High Court refused a prisoner’s application for leave to bring judicial review proceedings challenging two convictions in the District Court at Thurles. Ms Justice Stewart ruled on 9 June 2016 that no arguable grounds had been made out.
The applicant sought an order of certiorari to quash the District Court’s decision finding him guilty. The convictions carried sentences of six months’ imprisonment for an offence under section 2 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act 1997 and five months for an offence under section 2(1) of the Criminal Damage Act 1991. The judgment said he appeared to be held in Limerick Prison on a number of sentences, including those at issue.
The applicant advanced two grounds: alleged bias and an alleged breach of natural justice through the exercise of improper jurisdiction. He claimed a conflict of interest arose when Garda/prosecutor Declan O’Carroll entered a plea in the District Court in relation to section 99(9) of the Criminal Justice Act 2006. The judgment noted that the offence underlying the original suspended sentence had not been disclosed, and that the applicant had not explained the alleged bias, the relationship between those involved, or how the claimed conflict could have affected the trial.
The natural-justice argument was that the trial judge had not told the applicant of a right to elect trial on indictment before a jury. Justice Stewart said that argument presumably concerned the Criminal Damage Act conviction, since trial on indictment was not available for the offence under section 2 of the 1997 Act. The court said an allegation needed supporting evidence; a bare assertion was insufficient to ground the application.
The judgment described the application as poor in legibility, legal substance and information about the applicant’s broader circumstances. It concluded that the applicant had not established arguable grounds and denied leave to seek certiorari. The ruling concerned permission to commence judicial review proceedings; the court did not grant the requested order quashing the convictions.