The Court of Appeal has dismissed Mervyn White’s appeal against the High Court’s refusal to order his release from Mountjoy Prison under Article 40 of the Constitution.
White argued that the District Court had no jurisdiction to reissue the committal warrant under which he was detained. He also argued that the warrant did not show on its face that the required judicial inquiry had taken place, and that the certificate accompanying the reissue application was unsigned and did not identify its author.
The appeal arose from a two-month prison sentence imposed in White’s absence in December 2014 for driving while under the influence of an intoxicant. White had earlier challenged that sentence and warrant through judicial review proceedings. The High Court rejected that challenge, and the Court of Appeal dismissed his appeal in June 2017. During those proceedings, High Court and Court of Appeal orders stayed execution of the warrant. The final stay expired on 31 July 2017.
On 5 July 2017, a Garda applied to the District Court to reissue the warrant. The Court of Appeal judgment said the District Court judge was informed of the stays and their expiry. White was taken into custody at Mountjoy on 8 August 2017, when the warrant was executed by agreement. He sought an Article 40 inquiry two days later and was granted bail the following day.
The Court of Appeal differed from the High Court on whether White’s jurisdiction argument could be considered in an Article 40 inquiry. It held that such an argument could be appropriate to consider, but concluded that White was not unlawfully detained and that his release was not required.
The judgment said the stays had stopped the period for executing the warrant, which restarted when the stay expired. The District Court was entitled to reissue the warrant in those circumstances, and the judge’s understanding of the background answered the complaints about the statutory inquiry and certificate. The court also said the warrant could not be treated as stale because it could not lawfully have been executed while the stays were in force.
The court dismissed the appeal. It did not order White’s release.