The High Court has rejected separate challenges by Joseph Davis and Richard Tuite to the constitutional basis for summary prosecutions being brought against them in the District Court.
Mr Justice Conleth Bradley refused both men leave to apply for judicial review, finding that their central argument had no arguable prospect of success.
Davis faces six alleged summary offences, mainly under road traffic legislation, together with an alleged statutory breach of the peace under the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994. Tuite faces a single alleged offence under section 4 of the Road Traffic Act 2010. Both prosecutions remain pending before the District Court and are brought in the name of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
The applicants, who represented themselves, argued that Article 30.3 of the Constitution prevented the DPP, Attorney General or members of An Garda Síochána from prosecuting summary offences in that way. Article 30.3 requires crimes and offences prosecuted in courts other than courts of summary jurisdiction to be prosecuted in the name of the People.
The High Court rejected that interpretation. It relied in particular on the Supreme Court’s decision in People (DPP) v Roddy, which established that summary prosecutions may be brought by gardaí in the name of the DPP without individual prior authorisation from the DPP.
The court also considered section 8 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005, as amended in 2022, which expressly permits members of An Garda Síochána to institute or conduct prosecutions in courts of summary jurisdiction in the name of the DPP, subject to applicable DPP directions.
Mr Justice Bradley concluded that the applicants’ arguments that the DPP lacked constitutional authority to prosecute summarily, that section 9(2) of the Criminal Justice (Administration) Act 1924 was unconstitutional, or that gardaí were otherwise prohibited from prosecuting their cases did not meet the threshold required for judicial review.
Both leave applications were refused. The question of costs was left for a later mention.