Attorney-General (Ruddy) v Kenny

JurisdictionIreland
Judgment Date01 January 1960
Date01 January 1960
CourtSupreme Court
(S.C.)
Attorney-General (Ruddy)
and
Kenny

Opinion - Charge of driving while drunk - Evidence of Garda - Road Traffic Act, 1933, s. 30 - Courts of Justice Act,1924, s. 83 - Courts of Justice Act, 1936, s. 56.

The defendant was charged with driving a motor lorry with tractor attached while drunk. The prosecutor proposed to ask a police officer whether "in his opinion the defendant was drunk and incapable of driving the vehicle."The solicitor for the defendant objected to the question. The District Justice thereupon agreed to state a case for the opinion of the High Court whether evidence by a member of the Garda Siochana was admissible of his opinion that the defendant driver by reason of being drunk was unfit to drive. Held by Davitt...

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12 cases
  • O'Leary v Mercy University Hospital Cork Ltd
    • Ireland
    • Supreme Court
    • May 31, 2019
    ...actual knowledge or experience. By contrast, an expert witness may express opinions in respect of such facts (see AG (Ruddy) v. Kenny [1960] 94 ILTR 185 at p.190 In Ruddy, Kingsmill Moore J. explained the reasons for this distinction as including prejudice, faulty reasoning and inadequate ......
  • O'Neill v Dunnes Stores
    • Ireland
    • Supreme Court
    • November 16, 2010
    ...RYAN & MAGEE THE IRISH CRIMINAL PROCESS 1983 341 PAYNE v HARRISON & ANOR 1961 2 QB 403 1961 3 WLR 309 1961 2 AER 873 AG, RUDDY v KENNY 1960 94 ILTR 185 WAGNER v INTERNATIONAL RAILWAY 1921 133 NE 437 232 NY 176 HOME OFFICE v DORSET YACHT CO LTD 1970 AC 1004 1970 2 WLR 1140 1970 2 AER 294 BR......
  • Nevin v Nevin
    • Ireland
    • Supreme Court
    • February 7, 2019
    ...Moore J. also offered a useful formulation of the rule against non-expert opinion evidence, in Attorney General (Ruddy) v Kenny (1960) 94 ILTR 185.:- ‘It is a long standing rule of our law of evidence that, with certain exceptions, a witness may not express an opinion as to a fact in issue......
  • AK v The State of Western Australia
    • Australia
    • High Court
    • March 26, 2008
    ...SE 24 (Ga App, 1909) (‘the liquid … smelled like whisky’); Sherrard v Jacob [1965] NILR 151 at 160 (‘felt and smelt’) (quoting Attorney-General (Ruddy) v Kenny (1960) 94 ILTR 185 at 191 per Kingsmill Moore J); R v Farr (2001) 118 A Crim R 399 (odour of cannabis on accused's 39 Ogden v Peopl......
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2 books & journal articles
  • The Role of the Jury in the Insanity Defence: People (DPP) v Alchimionek [2019] IECA 49
    • Ireland
    • Hibernian Law Journal No. 19-2020, January 2020
    • January 1, 2020
    ...[1977] IR 336, 339 (O’Higgins CJ). 23 Declan McGrath, Evidence (2nd edn, Round Hall 2014) [6-03]. 24 Attorney General (Ruddy) v Kenny [1960] 94 ILTR 185 (Davitt P). 25 People (DPP) v Abdi (no 1) [2004] IECCA 47 (Hardiman J). he Role of the Jury in the Insanity Defence 133 Even when the expe......
  • Gauging the reliability of scientific evidence in tort
    • Ireland
    • Irish Judicial Studies Journal No. 1-6, January 2006
    • January 1, 2006
    ...Law Times 42; O’Flaherty, “The Expert Witness and the Courts,” (1997) 3 Medico-Legal Journal of Ireland 3. 2 A.G. (Ruddy) v. Kenny (1960) 94 I.L.T.R. 185 at 189. 2006] Gauging the Reliability of Expert Witnesses 141 The particular incident of everyday life which the learned justice had in m......

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