Kevin Tracey v District Judge Hugh O'Donnell, and Padraig O'Meara, Frieda McIlhenney, DPP, The State, Ireland, Attorney General, Minister for Justice, Commissioner of an Garda Siochana

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Judge: Mr. Justice John MacMenamin
• Judgment Date: 23 August 2021
• Neutral Citation: [2021] IESC 55
• Court: Supreme Court
• Docket Number: [RECORD NO.: 355/2006]

Between:

Kevin Tracey

Appellant

and

District Judge Hugh O'Donnell, and Padraig O'Meara, Frieda McIlhenney, The Director of Public Prosecutions, The State, Ireland, Attorney General, Minister for Justice, Commissioner of an Garda Siochana

Respondents

[2021] IESC 55

MacMenamin J.

Dunne J.

Charleton J.

[RECORD NO.: 355/2006]

THE SUPREME COURT

Judicial review – Prematurity – Costs – Respondents not seeking costs – Whether costs should follow the event

Facts: The appellant, Mr Tracey, applied for judicial review in relation to proceedings before the District Court. The Supreme Court held that the High Court judge had not erred in refusing the appellant an order for judicial review. The Supreme Court ([2002] IESC 20), held that, at one level, the appellant’s judicial review application was to be seen as premature; and that he could not show he was going to suffer any injustice by being heard in a hearing which was yet to take place. At another level, the Court held that the appellant could not demonstrate that he had suffered any detriment during the earlier hearing before the District Judge. The Court held that there was no basis for the assertion that the appellant’s constitutional right to a fair trial had been affected by either hearing. The respondents, the District Judge, Mr O’Meara, Ms McIlhenney, the Director of Public Prosecutions, the State, Ireland, the Attorney General, the Minister for Justice and the Commissioner of An Garda Síochána, succeeded at first instance and on appeal. The respondents’ counsel indicated that her clients were not...