The High Court has granted Con and Cathy Murphy leave to challenge a Circuit Court decision arising from their prosecution by Roscommon County Council for alleged breaches of planning enforcement notices.
Mr Justice Garrett Simons held that the couple had crossed the relatively low threshold required to bring judicial review proceedings. Their central complaint is that the Circuit Court wrongly refused to refer legal questions to the Court of Appeal by way of a consultative case stated.
The Murphys had first been unsuccessful in the District Court and then appealed to the Circuit Court. Their defence raised several legal issues, including whether one enforcement notice could validly apply to two people, whether the notice complied with the Habitats Directive, whether carrying out the required steps could itself breach that directive and whether the District Court summons was valid.
A broader issue then arose. The Circuit Court took the view that, in a criminal prosecution for failing to comply with an enforcement notice, the District and Circuit Courts could not “look behind” the notice and examine its underlying validity. Instead, the Circuit Court considered that such challenges had to be brought separately by judicial review in the High Court.
That conclusion affected its later refusal to state a case for the Court of Appeal. The Murphys argue that this approach was legally wrong.
Mr Justice Simons said the issue was not clear-cut. It was arguable that the Circuit Court should have considered whether the overarching question — whether a criminal court can examine the validity of an enforcement notice — itself warranted referral. He also held that at least some of the Murphys’ proposed legal questions were arguably suitable for a case stated.
Leave was therefore granted on all pleaded grounds. The Circuit Court judge was removed from the title of the proceedings and Roscommon County Council named as sole respondent.
The High Court also granted a temporary stay on the Circuit Court orders until August 27, 2025, leaving any longer restraint to agreement or a separate interlocutory application.