The Supreme Court has dismissed Harry Rea’s appeal over his attempt to have the result of the second Lisbon Treaty referendum declared null and void. The Court made no order as to costs.
The appeal concerned the High Court’s refusal in October 2009 to grant leave to seek judicial review. Rea had sought declarations concerning the Government’s handling of guarantees associated with the Lisbon Treaty and the validity of the referendum result, which was held on 2 October 2009.
The High Court had found that the grounds advanced did not disclose a basis for judicial review. In its account of that decision, the Supreme Court said the High Court judge considered the complaints political rather than legal and found no stateable case had been put forward.
On appeal, Rea argued that the guarantees had not been put to the people or laid before the Oireachtas, and that the Government had exceeded its authority. He relied, among other matters, on the Supreme Court’s 1987 decision in Crotty v. An Taoiseach. These were Rea’s submissions; the judgment records them as arguments, not findings.
The Supreme Court said there is a specific statutory process for challenging a referendum: a petition under section 42 of the Referendum Act 1994, as amended, subject to requirements including time limits. The appeal before it was from the refusal of leave to pursue judicial review, not from a petition brought under that Act.
The Court described the judicial review proceedings as a collateral attack on the referendum and said such an attack was not feasible. It also noted that the referendum had been passed by the people and had become part of the Constitution of Ireland. The Court said the Lisbon Protocol concerning the right to life, family and education respected the Irish Constitution, and that the Supreme Court had the duty to interpret and apply it.
The Court declined to interfere with the High Court order and dismissed the appeal. It made no order as to costs.