The High Court has refused Anne McDonagh leave to bring a judicial review challenge to the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission’s decision not to investigate her complaint about Garda handling of an alleged assault in 2009.
In a ruling delivered on 11 April 2024, Ms Justice Siobhán Phelan dismissed the application after finding that it was brought outside the applicable time limit and that the proposed challenge had no arguable basis. The case was at the leave stage; the court did not conduct a judicial review of the GSOC decision.
Ms McDonagh said she was assaulted by an employee of a local hotel in a rural town in Galway in December 2008. She complained to gardaí. The Director of Public Prosecutions directed that both parties be offered an Adult Caution for a public order offence. Ms McDonagh declined, while the third party accepted. No prosecution followed, and the caution given to the third party was later withdrawn.
In April 2021, Ms McDonagh complained to GSOC about Garda conduct connected with the handling of the matter. GSOC deemed the complaint inadmissible because it was made outside the statutory 12-month period and it found no good reason to extend that period. It communicated the decision in July 2021 and maintained its position in later correspondence, including letters in September 2022 and February 2023.
Ms McDonagh argued that the February 2023 letter was a fresh decision that she could challenge in time. GSOC argued that it merely confirmed the 2021 decision, which was already out of time to challenge. The judge found that GSOC had no statutory power to review its original inadmissibility decision. She said GSOC’s correspondence had created ambiguity by suggesting that new information might lead to a review. However, she concluded that the February 2023 letter did not excuse the delay after September 2022, when GSOC had clearly said it would take no further steps.
The judge also considered whether the reasons Ms McDonagh gave for her 12-year delay in complaining to GSOC could make the inadmissibility decision arguably unlawful. Those reasons included trauma and health difficulties following the alleged assault and the difficulty of complaining about gardaí in a small town. The judge concluded that GSOC could reasonably find these did not amount to good reasons for the delay, particularly given Ms McDonagh’s correspondence with the DPP in 2011.
The court refused leave to proceed by judicial review and dismissed the application. It did not decide whether the alleged assault occurred or determine the underlying complaint against the gardaí.