The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal by Eric Eoin Marques challenging the Director of Public Prosecutions’ decision not to prosecute him in Ireland for offences for which the United States sought his extradition. The court also upheld the finding that the DPP was not required to explain her decision.
The appeal concerned a High Court order refusing judicial review of the DPP’s decision. Marques had sought to quash that decision and compel the DPP to provide reasons, among other reliefs. The Court of Appeal, in a judgment delivered by Mr Justice Michael Peart on 12 December 2016, agreed with the High Court and dismissed the appeal.
Gardaí searched Marques’s Dublin apartment on 29 July 2013 under a warrant and arrested him on suspicion of offences under the Child Trafficking and Pornography Act 1998. The judgment says the investigation followed information from the FBI. US authorities then requested his provisional arrest, seeking to prosecute him there for alleged advertising and distribution of child pornography and conspiracy to commit those offences. He was arrested under an Irish extradition warrant and held pending the extradition proceedings; bail was refused.
His solicitor asked the DPP to prosecute in Ireland, setting out the potential consequences of extradition and offering a guilty plea to any charges brought. The DPP replied that she had decided not to prosecute, had considered the prosecution guidelines, and did not normally give reasons for a decision not to prosecute. She did not provide further reasons when asked.
The court noted that the extradition offences were also prosecutable in Ireland under section 5 of the 1998 Act. Under section 15 of the Extradition Act 1965, extradition is barred in specified circumstances, including where the DPP is considering whether to bring proceedings and has not yet decided. The issue before the appeal court, however, was the lawfulness and reviewability of the DPP’s decision not to prosecute and the claimed right to reasons—not whether Marques was guilty or whether extradition should ultimately be ordered.
The High Court had found no exceptional circumstances making the decision reviewable, and no entitlement to reasons. The Court of Appeal agreed. It said Marques had no legal right to be prosecuted in Ireland, even if he offered to plead guilty, and the decision not to prosecute did not affect a recognised legal right that would give rise to a separate right to reasons. The judgment therefore left the DPP’s decision in place and dismissed the appeal; it did not determine the extradition application.