The High Court quashed an order reissuing two committal warrants, finding that the evidence did not establish that the District Court judge had lawfully considered the application to renew them.
Mr Justice John MacMenamin said the warrants had been reissued on 18 May 2005, about 17 months after their earlier reissue on 17 December 2003. The renewed warrants stated that they were reissued “within six months”, which the judge said was not the case.
The applicant, Frank Daly, had been convicted in 2001 of driving without insurance and without a licence, and received consecutive six-month detention sentences. His appeal was struck out in November 2003 when he was absent, and the District Court order was affirmed. He was arrested on the reissued warrants in May 2005 and detained. The judgment records that he was later admitted to bail by the High Court.
The judicial review application challenged the District Court order of 18 May 2005. The governing Act and District Court rules required an application to reissue an unexecuted warrant to be supported by a certificate explaining why it had not been executed. The court also had discretion to examine a person on oath about the non-execution. The judge noted that the rules set a six-month period, while the Act referred to a reasonable time; he said the six-month limit was directory and did not remove the District Court’s power to reissue a warrant.
A Garda sergeant’s affidavit said he applied to reissue the warrants after learning that Daly was due in court on another matter. But the affidavit did not describe what was put before the District Court judge, identify any certificate, or explain the judge’s reasoning. Mr Justice MacMenamin held that the State had to show the lawfulness of the ex parte reissue, given the liberty at stake and the information’s being within the respondents’ particular knowledge.
The court concluded that the record did not show the required inquiry had taken place. The warrants themselves did not mention an inquiry and carried an inaccurate endorsement that they had been reissued within six months. Mr Justice MacMenamin granted judicial review and quashed the 18 May 2005 reissue order. The judgment does not state that it set aside the original convictions or sentences.