Attorney General v Murray (No. 2)

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Judgment Date: 15 July 1925
• Date: 15 July 1925
• Court: Supreme Court (Irish Free State)

Supreme Court.

Attorney-General v. Murray (No. 2).

ATTORNEY-GENERAL

and

JAMES MURRAY (No. 2) (1)

Practice - Appeal - Decision of the Court of Criminal Appeal - Certificate necessary to appeal therefrom - By what Court to be given - Whether by the Supreme Court or by the Court of Criminal Appeal - Courts of Justice Act, 1924 (No. 10 of 1924), sect. 29.

Application for a certificate to enable the applicant to appeal to the Supreme Court from a decision of the Court of Criminal Appeal.

James Murray, the applicant, had been convicted at the Central Criminal Court on a charge of murder, and sentenced to death. The conviction and sentence were, on appeal, affirmed by the Court of Criminal Appeal, reported ante, p. 266. And the Court refused to grant the applicant a certificate under sect. 29 of the Courts of Justice Act, 1924, to enable him to appeal from their decision to the Supreme Court. Following that refusal by the Court of Criminal Appeal, the applicant now applied to the Supreme Court for a certificate, the point of law involved being whether, on the construction of the section, the Court to grant the certificate was the Supreme Court or the Court of Criminal Appeal.

Sect. 29 of the Courts of Justice Act, 1924 (No. 10 of 1924), enacts:"The determination by the Court of Criminal Appeal of any appeal or other matter which it has power to determine shall be final, and no appeal shall lie from that Court to the Supreme Court, unless that Court or the Attorney-General shall certify that the decision involves a point of law of exceptional public importance, and that it is desirable in the public interest that an appeal should be taken to the Supreme Court, in which case an appeal may be brought to the Supreme Court, the decision of which shall be final and conclusive."

Held by the Supreme Court that the words "that Court" where they occur secondly in this section refer to the Court of Criminal Appeal and not to the Supreme Court, and that accordingly the Court to grant the certificate mentioned in the section is the Court of Criminal Appeal.

Sullivan P. :—

We are satisfied that the application made to us by Mr. Gleeson must be refused. Mr. Gleeson has said everything that could be said in support of his contention that this Court has jurisdiction to grant a certificate giving his client leave to appeal from the decision of the Court of Criminal Appeal to this Court.

The language of sect. 29 of the Courts of Justice Act, 1924, under...