Criminal Law

The Court of Appeal has dismissed an appeal against conviction notwithstanding that evidence of a doctor called by the prosecution should not have been elicited in re-examination or allowed by the trial judge. Delivering judgment for the Court of Appeal, Mr Justice Brian O’Moore emphasised: &l

The Supreme Court has rejected an appeal from an accused who claimed that he was entitled to be interviewed by gardaí during the investigation stage of alleged crimes. It was said that the accused was entitled to have his defence placed on the record while being questioned by gardaí an

The Court of Appeal has dismissed an application brought by a man seeking to quash convictions for murder, burglary and false imprisonment on the ground that a newly-discovered fact showed there had been a miscarriage of justice. The man relied on medical expert evidence which stated that he was in

The Court of Appeal has dismissed two appeals brought by men convicted of an “appalling act of savagery and ferocity” which left a man with severe brain injuries. The men both received seven-year-and-six-month sentences, although one man had the final 24 months of his sentence suspended.

The Court of Appeal has quashed the conviction of a man accused of sexually assaulting his daughter in bed after the trial judge failed to adequately address the jury on whether the man was awake at the time of the offending. It was argued by the man that no assault occurred, but that if it did occu

Antrim Crown Court was not swayed that an 18-year-old attacker who had 10 previous convictions had been unable to exercise self-control due to his diagnosis of ADHD and alcohol dependency. On 26 June 2020, the defendant, Jordan McClintock, arrived at a small gathering on the Ballykeel Estate in Ball

A woman has been jailed for nine months after spitting in the face of a key worker at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Belfast woman Pauline Burns, 56, pleaded guilty in Belfast Crown Court to one count of common assault on 4 April 2020.

The Court of Appeal has reserved judgment in an appeal based on the "unusual" argument that a dependency on alcohol can diminish a person's responsibility for murder such that juries should be allowed to find them guilty of manslaughter. The “unusual” argument was made in the case of Mic

Two 14-year-old boys have become the youngest convicted murderers in the history of the State after being found guilty of the murder of 14-year-old Ana Kriégel. The two boys were aged 13 at the time of the murder and are known only as Boy A and Boy B due to their age.

The last in a set of six EU directives providing guarantees during criminal proceedings across all member states has come into force. The directive on special safeguards for children started to apply yesterday, just over a month after the directive guaranteeing access to legal aid started to apply.

A leading criminal barrister has warned that Ireland could face a legal challenge over its implementation of an EU Directive on the right to information in criminal proceedings. Jane McGowan, chair of the Irish Criminal Bar Association (ICBA), told a recent conference that the 2012 Directive gives s

The Supreme Court has overturned a decision of the High Court which declared that section 9(1)(b) of the Offences Against the State (Amendment) Act 1998 offended the constitutional right to remain silent. Also finding that the definitional elements of the crime under this section were clear, Mr

A man who was given a five-year custodial sentence for possession of a firearm has been granted a declaration that s.27A(8) of the Firearms Act 1964, which imposes a mandatory minimum sentence of five years, is repugnant to the Constitution. Concluding that the section should be struck down as uncon

A man who was found guilty of manslaughter and sentenced to seven years' imprisonment has lost an appeal against the severity of his sentence. Finding the sentence to be in the same range as other sentences involving a knife, which was a substantial aggravating factor, Mr Justice Peter Charleton sai

The maximum sentence for conspiracy to murder could be increased from 10 years to life imprisonment under a private member's bill backed by Fianna Fáil. The opposition party's justice spokesperson, Jim O'Callaghan, has introduced a bill to allow judges to impose more severe sentences, The Iri