Irish Case Law Examples

Just as the freedom of expression clause is restricted in the Constitution itself, the right to remain silent must also be restricted. Before turning to the relevant legal legislation, it is of course clear that the exercise of judicial power in the field of justice implies the right of a judge to compel the presence of witnesses and, a fortiori, to answer questions from witnesses. “It is the ultimate protection of justice in the state, whether in prosecuting the guilty or justifying the innocent”: according to Walsh J.A., Pronouncement of the judgment of the Court of Criminal Appeal in In Re Kevin O`Kelly 108 ILTR 97, at p. 101 (see Murphy v. Dublin Corporation and Minister for Local Government, 1972] IR215). Of course, at common law, no witness is punishable for refusing to answer a question that he or she believes could incriminate him. As Dr. Glanville Williams pointed out that “the rule has not been questioned for four centuries.” 1 I now turn to some examples of legislative interference with the right to self-incrimination, as Lord Mustill did in his speech in Reg. v. Director of Serious Fraud Office, Ex p.Smith [1993] AC 1, p.

40. He continued: Ms. Airey wanted to be legally separated from her husband, who was allegedly a violent alcoholic. However, there was no legal aid and she could not afford to pay the lawyer`s fees. The European Court of Human Rights held that Ms Airey`s lack of legal aid had the effect of depriving Ms Airey of access to a court and thus violated her fundamental rights. The following year, legal aid was introduced in Ireland for such cases. This section contains a list of important Supreme Court judgments. This list of selected case law is necessarily arbitrary and does not claim to be exhaustive. Click on the case name below to access the full text of the judgment in RTF format. He stressed that the case concerned suspects in pre-trial detention and not accused at trial, and stated that the view that a suspect could not obtain protection under article 38 would be too restrictive an interpretation of the article.

He said at page 606:- personal constitutional rights – right to legal aid in criminal matters Read the latest labour law reviews on the Irish Employment Law Hub, provided by Ireland`s leading lawyers and experts in labour law. The Court concluded that the judge was correct in concluding that the section did not violate the Constitution. Although the trial judge found that section 38 was applicable to a case such as the present one, the Court did not reach a conclusion as to whether section 38 was applicable. It appears from the facts of the cases giving rise to the immediate appeal that any appellant who did not respond in accordance with the requirements of this section was convicted of an offence contrary to that section. Therefore, although the appellant`s failure to respond did not affect the proper conduct of the proceedings, the Court recognizes that what happens before the trial can sometimes have adverse effects on the proceedings. Pre-trial activities related to obtaining a confession or not allowing an accused to prepare for trial by withholding essential information are just two examples of what could be considered flawed, so it is not a proper trial. The High Court dismissed an application for relief by a company seeking to invoke a lien registered as collateral for loans granted after 31 December 2009. In this judgment, the court found that the present case was “indistinguishable” from the Promontoria (Oyster) judgment The High Court awarded 75,000 euros in damages to a man injured by a bull at a cattle market.

The man was an experienced farmer who had been asked to help drive cattle into the auction area when he was attacked by a frightened cow. During sentencing in this case, Judge Cian Fe Check out our list of databases from A to Z for full access to all databases in the library. * Following its exclusion from the Council of Europe on 16 March 2022, the Russian Federation will no longer be a party to the European Convention on Human Rights on 16 September 2022. The Northern Ireland Court of Appeal dismissed 10 grounds of appeal following the manslaughter of a three-year-old boy. The court rejected arguments that the crime scene photographs put the applicant at a disadvantage, finding that the applicant`s previous convictions for domestic violence were relevant personal constitutional rights – doctrine of unlisted constitutional rights Lexis+ contains numerous primary and secondary legal documents from the UK, EU, US and many other jurisdictions. It is the only online source for the full text of the All England Law Reports and Halsbury`s Laws. International content can be accessed via the “International” link on the homepage. Legal news and British newspapers are also included. Validity of the law – prosecution – incompatibility of the offence with the provisions of the Constitution. Validity of the law – retroactive effect of the law found unconstitutional Nessa Williams-Johnston could not be legally recognized as her father`s daughter because her father had previously been married to someone other than Nessa`s mother. After the Strasbourg Court ruled in favor of the family, a new law was passed to give children in Nessa`s position proper legal status. Outside the courtroom, the crime of confusing a crime is committed when a person conceals or conceals a crime that is known to have been committed.

It is the duty of all citizens to report to the competent authorities all essential facts concerning the commission of a crime of which they are definitively aware. Interpretation of the Constitution – Presumption of constitutionality of Acts of the Oireachtas There is a dichotomy to note: there exists between the absolute right to remain silent and the right to remain silent if a response leads to self-incrimination. If a person is completely innocent of any wrongdoing in relation to his or her movements, there should be a strong attachment to the obvious constitutional rights not to make such a statement when asked to do so in accordance with legal requirements. The Court therefore considers that the issue under consideration here can best be understood as an interference with the right to have nothing to say which may constitute incriminating evidence itself. * This figure includes all judgments and decisions of the European Court of Human Rights (including friendly settlements) for which the Committee of Ministers of the Council of Europe has decided that all necessary follow-up measures have been taken. Source: Database of the Department for the Enforcement of Judgments of the CEDH, HUDOC-EXEC. Executive – International relations – Single European Act “The fairness of a trial can be affected by what has happened before and therefore, therefore, for example, evidence obtained by inappropriate means before the trial can affect the trial itself. It follows, in my view, that if a suspect`s right to remain silent can be considered a prerequisite to our criminal justice system, it would be protected by this section. Click to access and, if necessary, log in with your DCU username and password.

In the nineteenth century, legislation established an inquisitorial form of investigation of the transactions and assets of bankrupt debtors, the . The trial judge then considered whether the State was entitled to restrict this right in the impugned provision. It concluded that the State was entitled to do so and had not violated the principle of proportionality as set out in Cox v. Ireland (1992) 2 IR 503. Separation of powers – Constitutionality of detention without trial Criminal law – Bail – Presumption of innocence – Constitutional rights – Right to liberty. The High Court ruled that the Dublin Circuit Court had wrongly refused to consider an application for divorce on the grounds that the husband, a lawyer, was not practising in the county. The couple lived outside Dublin and the husband lived in the south-west of the state. As a result, the MC, a cancer survivor, did not know if her pregnancy posed a risk to her life. The European Court of Justice ruled that Ireland`s lack of an accessible and effective procedure to determine whether she qualified for legal abortion violated her fundamental rights. The decision led Ireland to amend its abortion law. The texts of these judgments were provided with the permission of the Law Reporting Council of Ireland and Justis Publishing Ltd.

Rule of law – personal constitutional rights – right to liberty – deliberate interference by the executive with rights It did not consider that the article restricted the presumption of innocence or violated the applicant`s right to a trial based on long-established conflicting principles, nor rather imposed an inquisitorial character. The Court of Appeal has significantly reduced the award of damages to a man who suffered multiple injuries in an accident described as “the stuff of nightmares.” The man was injured in an elevator that collapsed three stories after a cable broke. On appeal, the High Court of Justice ruled that privacy activist Max Schrems was entitled to 80% of the legal costs if the Data Protection Commission challenged a 2013 complaint. The complaint concerned the transfer of data by Facebook Ireland Limited from the EU to the The judge concluded that a suspect`s right not to answer questions about his freedom of movement is based on Article 38.1 of the Constitution and not Article 40.