The High Court refused Sharon Buckley’s application for judicial review of warrants issued in connection with unpaid motoring fines, finding that she had not established grounds for relief. The court also concluded that the failure to disclose all relevant facts when seeking leave to bring the case weighed against granting the discretionary remedy of certiorari.
Ms Buckley sought to quash orders reissuing warrants on 12 August 2008 and 28 September 2009, or the warrants themselves. She also sought an injunction preventing the respondents from acting on them and a declaration concerning the delay in executing them. The judgment was delivered by Mr Justice O’Keeffe on 15 April 2011.
The warrants related to convictions for motoring offences. The judgment records that five fines arose from matters heard on 16 May 2007, six from matters heard on 7 August 2007, and another from a conviction on 11 December 2008. Garda evidence put the total outstanding fines at €4,600. Ms Buckley’s case included that she had limited means, had sought to pay by instalments and that a €150 cheque for the most recent fine should have discharged the related warrant. The Garda returned the cheque, saying it was insufficient to deal with all the warrants.
There was a dispute over why the warrants had not been executed sooner. Garda Rowland said Ms Buckley had agreed to make herself available after Christmas 2009 and that he delayed execution at her request. She denied promising to surrender, though accepted asking that arrest be delayed over Christmas. The judge did not decide the factual dispute conclusively, but considered the Garda’s account more consistent on the reasons for delay. He rejected her submissions on that issue and found the refusal to accept instalments reasonable in the circumstances.
The court rejected the argument that reissuing the warrants breached the Courts (No. 2) Act 1991, finding that the statutory ground had not been clearly stated and rejecting the contention that “re-issued” warrants counted as newly “issued” for the relevant time limit. It found that the Garda certificates provided a sufficient basis for reissue. Although the Gardaí had not complied with certain District Court Rules concerning reissue where a person could not be found, the court held that the rules were directory rather than mandatory, so the non-compliance did not invalidate the orders.
The judge also found that the application conveyed an incomplete impression about the attempts to appeal the convictions and the reasons for the delay in executing the warrants. He concluded that Ms Buckley had not made out a case for relief. The judgment refused the requested judicial review relief; it did not quash the warrants.