The High Court has directed that the Irish Prison Service and Department of Justice be given notice of two applications by Steven Penrose for leave to seek judicial review. Mr Justice David Holland made the directions on 13 March 2023, but did not decide whether leave should be granted.
The applications, numbered 2023/2 JRP and 2023/3 JRP, concern allegations made by Mr Penrose, who identified himself in court papers as detained in Mountjoy Prison. He alleges that prison authorities unlawfully held him in solitary confinement, obstructed earlier court applications and correspondence, and committed other abuses. The judgment records these as allegations, not findings.
In the papers for 2023/3 JRP, Mr Penrose sought mandamus and described a claim for damages. His handwritten statement included allegations of assaults, interference with legal correspondence and false reports to Gardaí. In 2023/2 JRP, the papers sought certiorari, mandamus and prohibition, while the attached statement described a damages claim and expressed uncertainty about the relief sought. Justice Holland said the second set of proceedings appeared likely to repeat the allegations and relief sought in the first.
The judge said it might later be decided that a damages claim should be brought by plenary proceedings rather than judicial review, or that leave should be refused on other grounds. He also said leave might be granted. He made no decision on those issues at this stage.
Under the directions, the Chief Registrar is to send the papers to the respondents through the Chief State Solicitor’s Office. The respondents have four weeks from receipt to file any affidavit or other written reply. The applications were adjourned to a remote hearing for mention only on 17 April 2023, with Mr Penrose to attend remotely. The directions also required a copy to be sent to him by registered post through the Governor of Mountjoy Prison.
Justice Holland noted that no application had yet been made under the Legal Aid-Custody Issues Scheme and that it was unclear whether a custody issue arose.