McGrail v District Justice Ruane

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Judge: Mr. Justice Barron
• Judgment Date: 01 January 1990
• Neutral Citation: 1988 WJSC-HC 2624
• Docket Number: Judicial Review No. 151 of 1988,[1988 No. 151 J.R.]
• Court: High Court
• Date: 01 January 1990

1988 WJSC-HC 2624

THE HIGH COURT

Judicial Review No. 151 of 1988

MCGRAIL v. RUANE

MICHAEL McGRAIL

.v.

DISTRICT JUSTICE RUANE AND OTHERS

Citations:

COURTS (NO 3) ACT 1986 S1(4)

COURTS (NO 3) ACT 1986 S1(7)(a)

PETTY SESSIONS (IRL) ACT 1851 S10 (4)

DPP V ROCHE & KELLY 1989 ILRM 39

DPP V NOLAN UNREP HAMILTON 15.01.88 1988/1/168

PETTY SESSIONS (IRL) ACT 1851 S44

OFFENCES AGAINST THE PERSON ACT 1861 S42

CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACT 1951 S11

CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACT 1951 S7

MIN AGRICULTURE V NORGRO 1980 IR 155

Synopsis:

CRIMINAL LAW

Summons

Issue — Validity — Application for issue — Time limit — Relevance — Common assault — Indictable offence — Exception from time limits applicable to summary offences — ~See~ Criminal Law, proceedings — (1988/151 JR — Barron J. — 21/10/88)

- [1990] 2 IR 555 - [1989] ILRM 498

|McGrail v. Ruane|

CRIMINAL LAW

Proceedings

Commencement — District Court — Summons — Issue — Indictable offence — Exception from time limit applicable to summary offences — A summons dated 29/10/87, issued by the District Court, was served on the applicant — The summons required the applicant to appear in that court to answer a charge that on 19/9/86 he had committed an assault contrary to common law — The summons recited that the application for the issue of the summons was made on 3/6/87, being over six months after the date of the offence charged — A complaint that a summary offence has been committed has to be made within six months after the date of the offence, as required by s. 10(4) of the Act of 1851; but s. 1, sub-s. 7(a), of the Act of 1986 now provides that a summons, reciting the commission of an offence, may be issued by the District Court if the application for such issue is made pursuant to sub-s. 4 of that section within six months from the date of the said offence — Sub-s. 7(a) of s. 1 of the Act of 1986 so provides by applying to an application for the issue of a summons pursuant to sub-s. 4 of that section the time limit specified in s. 10(4) of the Act of 1851 for making a complaint of the commission of a summary offence — The applicant contended that the summons served on him had been issued unlawfully since the application for its issue had been made more than six months after 19/9/86 contrary to s. 1, sub-s. 7(a), of the Act of 1986 — The respondent contended that the six months time limit so introduced by s. 1, sub-s. 7(a), of the Act of 1986 (by reference to s. 10 (4) of the Act of 1851) did not apply since assault at common law is an indictable offence — The respondent referred to s. 7 of the Act of 1951 which states that "Paragraph 4 of section 10 of the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act, 1851, shall not apply to a complaint in respect of an indictable offence" — The applicant, having obtained leave, applied to the High Court for an order of prohibition forbidding the respondent District Justice to try the applicant on the assault charge — Held, in dismissing the application, that common assault is an offence which may be tried summarily in the District Court pursuant to s. 42 of the Act of 1861 and s. 11 of the Act 1951 — Held that common assault was also an indictable offence at the option of the prosecution and, accordingly, the time limit on which the applicant relied was excluded by the provisions of s. 7 of the Act of 1951 — Held that, in any event, the point raised by the applicant, if correct, did not establish lack of jurisdiction in the respondent to embark on the trial of the applicant on the assault charge, but was a point...