The High Court has declined to direct an inquiry into Frank Ward’s detention, finding no basis to conclude that his imprisonment was unlawful.
Ward applied in writing to challenge the legality of the committal warrant under which he was held in Midlands Prison. The judgment records that he was sentenced to life imprisonment by the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court on 31 October 2007 after convictions for robbery and causing serious harm.
On appeal, the Court of Criminal Appeal quashed the life sentence on 16 January 2012 and imposed concurrent 20-year sentences, backdated to 6 October 2003. Ward exhibited the later warrant and constitutional provisions in support of his application.
He argued that the warrant was repugnant to Articles 36 and 40.4.1 of the Constitution. His submissions included that legislation was required to authorise committal warrants, that imprisonment was not constitutionally mandated, and that the Constitution did not define how personal liberty should be interpreted. He contended that his imprisonment was therefore unconstitutional.
Justice O’Regan said Article 36, either on its own or with Article 40.4.1, had no particular bearing on Ward’s detention. She said no cogent argument had been made that the detention might be unlawful on that basis.
The judge also rejected the submission that imprisonment itself was unlawful because the Constitution did not mandate the imprisonment of any particular person. She cited a 1940 Supreme Court decision stating that detention is in accordance with law when authorised by an Oireachtas statute, provided the statute is not repugnant to the Constitution.
The court’s stated decision was that there was no basis to direct an inquiry under Article 40. The judgment does not record an order releasing Ward or otherwise changing his sentence.