The High Court has allowed Zbigniew Zadecki to pursue a limited judicial review challenge to two District Court convictions for possession of stolen property, while refusing permission on most of his other claims.
Zadecki had faced numerous charges in the District Court on April 16, 2021. Some were dismissed and others resulted in convictions. He appealed all convictions to the Circuit Court, but separately sought judicial review in the High Court.
One group of convictions concerned possession of two Stanley knives or blades in a public place. Zadecki said he was a carpenter and relied on the statutory defence that the items were possessed for work. He argued that the District Court applied the wrong burden of proof.
Mr Justice Garrett Simons held that even if the District Court had made a legal error, that was the type of issue which could properly be corrected on appeal. A Circuit Court appeal would also allow Zadecki to give fuller evidence about his claimed employment, which had been sparsely documented at the original hearing. Judicial review was therefore refused on those grounds.
The High Court reached a different conclusion on two convictions for possessing stolen property. The items were a LEAP card and a personal public service card bearing other people’s names.
The judgment records that the prosecution called no evidence that either card was stolen or that Zadecki knew, or was reckless as to whether, they were stolen. When his solicitor sought a directed acquittal, the prosecuting Garda expressly accepted the defence submission.
Despite that, the District Court refused the application and later convicted Zadecki.
The High Court held that this raised an arguable question of fair procedures and jurisdiction, including whether the District Court judge had effectively descended into the arena after the prosecution accepted there was no case on those charges.
Permission for judicial review was therefore granted on that limited issue. The ruling did not quash the convictions; whether Zadecki ultimately succeeds was left for the full judicial review hearing.