The High Court has dismissed Paul Reid’s proceedings against the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), finding that his pleadings disclosed no reasonable cause of action. The court did not decide the underlying complaints Reid made about other people and organisations.
In a judgment delivered electronically on 3 July 2024, Mr Justice Barr said the DPP was the sole defendant, despite Reid’s statement of claim and supporting papers setting out complaints about numerous others. The DPP had applied under Order 19, rule 28 of the Rules of the Superior Courts to have the case dismissed, or alternatively under the court’s inherent jurisdiction.
The judgment summarised Reid’s complaints, which included allegations about police, ambulance personnel, financial institutions, tenants of a Dublin property he owned, and others. As against the DPP, Reid complained that communications to the office had gone unanswered or had not received an appropriate response. He also alleged that the office had “hoodwinked” him and disseminated misleading information, without specifying what information was involved, who it concerned, or who had published or received it.
The court noted that the DPP’s office had replied to Reid in letters dated 16 May and 23 August 2023. The letters said the office had no file on the matter and no investigative function, and advised him to contact An Garda Síochána if he believed a criminal offence had been committed.
Mr Justice Barr said the DPP’s statutory role was to prosecute crime, while investigation of suspected offences was a matter for An Garda Síochána. The court found that complaints about the DPP not investigating Reid’s allegations, the way the office communicated with him, and the vague “hoodwinked” and misleading-information claims did not amount to a statable cause of action.
The proceedings against the DPP were dismissed for disclosing no reasonable cause of action. The judgment did not resolve Reid’s wider complaints. The parties were given two weeks to send written submissions of up to 1,000 words on costs. The case was listed for mention on 23 July 2024 for final orders.