The High Court has refused to order the release of Liam Brien from Midlands Prison after rejecting challenges based on an alleged delayed bail appeal and the constitutionality of the Juries Act 1976.
Brien was convicted of sexual offences by a jury in Galway Circuit Court on 26 February 2013 and sentenced to eight years' imprisonment. The Court of Appeal dismissed his conviction appeal in February 2015 but reduced the sentence to five years.
He subsequently began separate proceedings challenging the constitutionality of the Juries Act. He had also previously sought habeas corpus, the constitutional procedure for testing whether a person's detention is lawful, over the listing of a bail application. That application was rejected in August 2015. The President of the High Court later refused bail.
In his new habeas corpus application, Brien claimed that he had appealed the refusal of bail but no hearing date had been fixed, which he described as oppressive.
Mr Justice MacEochaidh checked with the Court of Appeal and found no record of such an appeal. He described Brien's assertion that an appeal had been brought as misleading. He added that even if there were unfair delay in hearing a bail appeal, the appropriate remedy would be to seek an expedited Court of Appeal hearing rather than release through habeas corpus.
Brien also argued that the Juries Act 1976 was unconstitutional because the jury panel from which his jury was selected was not representative of the community.
The High Court held that this challenge came too late. Brien had not raised the alleged jurisdictional defect before or during his prosecution, and his conviction and appeal had reached statutory finality. The court said that, save for very exceptional circumstances, habeas corpus cannot then be used to reopen the legality of the conviction.
Mr Justice MacEochaidh therefore declined relief and Brien remained in custody.