The Supreme Court has allowed Donegal County Council’s appeal, ruling that section 1 of the Courts (No. 3) Act 1986, as amended, authorises a summons to issue on an application by the solicitors’ firm V.P. McMullin, an unincorporated body of persons.
The judgment was delivered by Mr Justice Brian Murray on 13 May 2025. He agreed with the judgment of Mr Justice Charleton and said the appeal should be allowed. The court answered the question in the case stated by confirming that the statutory provision authorised issue of a summons on the firm’s application. The judgment does not identify any further order or determine an underlying offence in the excerpt provided.
The appeal concerned whether amendments made in 2004 to the 1986 Act meant that an unincorporated association could no longer apply for a summons. The respondent, Conor Quinn, argued that the requirement for a summons to specify the name of the person who applied excluded unincorporated bodies. The High Court had accepted that interpretation and found for Quinn in a 2024 decision.
Mr Justice Murray said the legislation did not expressly prohibit applications by unincorporated associations. He also cited the general presumption that significant legal changes are not made indirectly and the Interpretation Act 2005, under which “person” includes an unincorporated association. He said Quinn’s explanation for why the legislature would have intended to remove that ability was unconvincing.
The judgment said a summons may validly name the prosecutor, the solicitor acting for it, or both, where the solicitor applies on the prosecutor’s behalf. In this case, the summons named V.P. McMullin. The Supreme Court concluded that the High Court had given insufficient weight to the argument that the 2004 amendment would have made a significant change to the law without a clear and internally consistent justification.