The High Court has refused Linda Rogers leave to bring a judicial review over the investigation and trial process connected to her District Court public order convictions, ruling that her application was out of time.
Ms Justice Mary Rose Gearty said the application, made on 6 November 2023, came after the three-month deadline. Rogers had not applied to extend the time limit, and the court said it could not extend it in the circumstances.
Rogers sought declarations and orders requiring disclosure of material including digital audio recordings, Garda notebooks, custody records, CCTV footage and sworn statements from Garda respondents. She alleged failures to preserve and disclose evidence, improper treatment and other breaches of her rights. The respondents argued that the application was late, that her convictions were under appeal in the Circuit Court and that the issues had become moot after the trial.
The court examined the digital audio recording of a District Court hearing on 24 May 2023, after Rogers relied on that hearing to say she had been assured further disclosure would be provided. Gearty said the recording showed the opposite: Rogers was told that no further relevant CCTV or audio existed, that only the available notebook material had been provided, and that statements from witnesses would not be ordered on the information before the District Court judge.
The judge said that if Rogers intended to challenge the process, she should have started judicial review proceedings within three months of that hearing at the latest. Even taking a later District Court order in July 2023 as the relevant date, the November application was still late.
Gearty did not decide whether Rogers had an arguable case for judicial review. She said the delay alone was enough to refuse leave. Her judgment records a provisional view that Rogers should pay the respondents’ costs; the supplied judgment does not record a final costs order.