The High Court has refused Ciaran Maguire’s application for information about his 2015 detention at Letterkenny Garda Station, which he sought to help oppose his surrender under a European Arrest Warrant (EAW).
Maguire was arrested in Donegal in June 2015 and later released without charge. The warrant seeks his surrender to Northern Ireland for prosecution over alleged attempted murder of a serving Police Service of Northern Ireland member and alleged possession of explosives with intent to endanger life. The allegations concern events on 18 June 2015. They have not been determined in the proceedings described in this judgment.
Maguire sought his custody record, details of samples taken or items seized, statements and interview recordings. His custody record had been provided before the hearing, so the court said it did not need to consider that request further. His other requests were based on fair procedures, constitutional rights and the EU Directive on the right to information in criminal proceedings.
Justice Donnelly held that Maguire had not identified a specific breach of his constitutional rights during his detention or established an explicit legal duty requiring the respondents to provide the remaining materials before the EAW hearing. The court described his claim as speculative and said any rights objections could be raised within the surrender proceedings under the European Arrest Warrant Act 2003.
The judge also ruled that Gardaí had no duty to provide interview recordings on request. Under section 56 of the Criminal Justice Act 2007, the court said, Gardaí could not hand over recordings without a court order. Because Maguire was not charged with an offence before a court in Ireland, the judge found that section did not empower the High Court to order access to the recordings in these proceedings or the EAW proceedings. Any entitlement to recordings could be determined if a request were made during the EAW proceedings.
The court rejected the claim that the EU Directive entitled Maguire to the requested material, following an earlier High Court decision on access to documents in EAW cases. It also dismissed his argument that transferring evidence to Northern Ireland while the judicial review was under way interfered with the court’s supervisory role. The judge accepted evidence that the transfers were made under mutual assistance legislation and noted that no interim order had been sought to prevent them.
The judgment concerns Maguire’s information application. It did not decide whether he should be surrendered under the EAW. The court refused all reliefs sought.