McGowan v Carville

JurisdictionIreland
Judgment Date01 January 1961
Date01 January 1961
CourtSupreme Court
(H.C., S.C.)
McGowan
and
Carville

Charge of driving without a licence - Onus of proof that the defendant had no licence - Road Traffic Act, 1933, s. 22 (1) - County Officers and Courts (Ireland) Act, 1877, s. 78.

The defendant while driving a motor van was stopped by the complainant and requested to produce his driving licence which he failed to do then, but stated that he would do so at a named Garda Station. The defendant was subsequently charged with driving the vehicle without having a driving licence, contrary to s. 22, sub-s. 1, of the Road Traffic Act, 1933. He did not attend to answer the charge nor was he represented and the complaint was heard in his absence. Evidence was given of the above stated facts but no evidence was given as to whether or not he had produced his driving licence at the Garda Station. The District Justice dismissed the complaint, being of opinion that the onus was on the complainant to prove that the defendant had no driving licence, and that he had failed to discharge the onus. At the complainant's request the District Justice stated a case for the opinion of the High Court as to whether he was correct in law in dismissing the charge. It was held by the High Court (Davitt P., Murnaghan and...

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21 cases
  • Tynan v Jones
    • United Kingdom
    • Divisional Court
    • Invalid date
  • Public Prosecutor v Kum Chee Cheong
    • Singapore
    • High Court (Singapore)
    • 15 Noviembre 1991
    ...in Eire. Both courts ruled to the contrary in John v Humphreys [1955] 1 WLR 325 In the case of Garda Michael McGowan v Arthur Carville [1960] IR 330 the defendant was the driver of a motor van when he was stopped and requested to produce his driving licence which he failed to do so then, bu......
  • Attorney General (Comer) v Shorten
    • Ireland
    • High Court
    • 10 Abril 1961
    ...was not such as to entitle the District Justice to hold that the burden of proof had shifted to the defendant. McGowan v. CarvilleIR[1960] I.R. 330 applied. (H.C.) Attorney-General (Comer) and Shorten False declaration -Burden of proof - Actual knowledge that a declaration false - Means of ......
  • The People (Director of Public Prosecutions) v Heffernan
    • Ireland
    • Supreme Court
    • 7 Febrero 2017
    ...is a new statutory defence that did not exist at common law. The general rule in a criminal trial, as emphasised in McGowan v. Carville [1960] I.R. 330 and The People (at the Suit of the Attorney General) v. Quinn [1965] I.R. 366, is that the prosecution must prove guilt, while the accuse......
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2 books & journal articles
  • Same Problem, Same Solution? The Treatment of the Voluntarily Intoxicated Offender in England and Germany
    • Ireland
    • Trinity College Law Review No. IV-2001, January 2001
    • 1 Enero 2001
    ...made it unlawful to drive a vehicle on a road. The Irish courts unsurprisingly rejected this interpretation in McGowan v. Carville [1960] IR 330. 2001] Same Problem, Same Solution The internal act does not seem to withstand the same analysis either. The concept of legal guilt is explicitly ......
  • In the Irish Courts
    • United Kingdom
    • Journal of Criminal Law, The No. 25-4, October 1961
    • 1 Octubre 1961
    ...by the Attorney-General, the conviction wasquashed.SUPREMECOURTINEIREONUS OFPROOFOFHOLDINGALICENCEA.G.(McGowan) v. CarvilleInthis case (95 I.L.T.R. 41). the majority of the SupremeCourtin Eire have refused to follow thejudgmentofLordGoddard C.J. in John v. Humphreys (1955, 1 W.L.R. 325),in ......

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