Maher v Attorney General

JurisdictionIreland
Judgment Date01 January 1974
Date01 January 1974
Docket Number[1971. No. 3735 P.]
CourtSupreme Court
(S.C.)
Maher
and
Attorney General

Administration of justice -Judicial function - Assessment of evidence -Statutory provision stating certificate to be conclusive evidence of matters certified - Whether statutory provisions severable - Road Traffic Act, 1968 (No. 25), s. 44, sub-s. 2 (a) - Constitution of Ireland, 1937, Articles 15, 34, 37, 38.

Section 44, sub-s. 2 (a), of the Road Traffic Act, 1968, provided that a certificate, stating that a specimen of a person's blood contained a specified concentration of alcohol, should be "conclusive evidence" that, when the specimen was taken, the concentration of alcohol in that person's blood was as specified in the certificate. The plaintiff was convicted of an offence under s. 49 of the Road Traffic Act, 1961, in the District Court after a trial in which such certificate was admitted in evidence as an essential proof. The plaintiff claimed in the High Court a declaration that the sub-section was invalid having regard to the provisions of the Constitution, and an order annulling his conviction. On appeal by the plaintiff from the dismissal of his action, it was Heldby the Supreme Court, in allowing the appeal, 1, that the administration of justice in a criminal trial was confined by the Constitution to the Courts and judges constituted and appointed in accordance with the provisions thereof and, therefore, that the essential ingredients of...

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85 cases
  • Hardy v Ireland
    • Ireland
    • High Court
    • 10 September 1992
    ...CHLORATE) ORDER 1972 SI 191/1972 EXPLOSIVE SUBSTANCES ACT 1875 EXPLOSIVE SUBSTANCES ACT 1875 S3 R V HAALAM 1957 1 AER 665 MAHER V AG & OR 1973 IR 140 KING V AG 1981 IR 233 R V ELLIS-DON LTD 61 CANADIAN CC 423 PRESUMPTION OF INNOCENCE A NEW ERA 1967 CAN BAR REV 1988 O'LEARY V AG 1991 ILRM 45......
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    ...was whether he was a member of the organisation in question, not whether the organisation was unlawful. Maher v. The Attorney GeneralIR [1973] I.R. 140 and The State (McEldowney) v. KelleherIR [1983] I.R. 289 distinguished. 2. That even if s. 19, sub-s. 4 was unconstitutional, there had bee......
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4 books & journal articles
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    • Trinity College Law Review No. I-1998, January 1998
    • 1 January 1998
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    • Trinity College Law Review No. V-2002, January 2002
    • 1 January 2002
    ...378. " R v. Scatchard (1987) 27 A Crim R 136. 19 McLoughlin v. Minister for the Public Service [1985] IR 631; Maher v. Attorney General [1973] IR 140. [Vol. 5 2oo2N another, both interpretations being diametrically opposed in potential application. However, certain canons of statutory const......
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    • Irish Judicial Studies Journal No. 1-17, January 2017
    • 1 January 2017
    ...& anor. [2016] IESC 7, para. 54 7[2007] 1 IR 400 hereafter “McGonnell” 8[2005] 2 IR 30 hereafter “Whelan” 9Maher v. The Attorney General [1973] IR 140 10In that if an application for inspection of an Intoxilyser machine is made, it would be unconstitutional if the accused did not have an op......
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    • Ireland
    • Irish Judicial Studies Journal No. 2-4, July 2004
    • 1 July 2004
    ...that a decision affecting constitutional rights should be reviewed by 21 [1986] I.R. 362 (H.C. & S.C.). 22 [1984] I.R. 151 (S.C.). 23[1973] I.R. 140 24[1963] I.R. 170 (S.C.). 25 [1985] I.R. 458 (H.C.). Judicial Studies Institute Journal 2004] 45 A Comparison of Article 6 of European Convent......

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