People (Attorney General) v Cronin

JurisdictionIreland
Judgment Date01 January 1972
Date01 January 1972
Docket Number[1970. No. 68]
CourtSupreme Court
The People (Attorney General) v. Cronin
THE PEOPLE (at the Suit of THE ATTORNEY GENERAL)
and
DENIS CRONIN
[1970. No. 68]

Supreme Court

Criminal Law - Appeal - Time limit - Conviction on indictment in Central Criminal Court - Expiration of period allowed for application to trial judge for certificate of appeal - Application to Court of Criminal Appeal for extension of time limit - Whether Court of Criminal Appeal had jurisdiction to extend time limit - Rules of the Superior Courts, 1962 (S.I. No. 72),Or. 86, rr. 3, 8, 40 - Courts of Justice Act, 1924 (No. 10), s. 31 - Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act, 1961 (No. 39),ss. 12, 14.

The defendant was convicted on indictment in the Central Criminal Court on several counts and he was sentenced by the trial judge to serve terms of penal servitude. Order 86, r. 3, provides that an application to the trial judge for a certificate that a case is one which is fit for appeal shall be made at the close of the trial or within three days thereafter. Long after the expiration of the relevant three days, the defendant obtained an order from the Court of Criminal Appeal purporting to extend the period within which the defendant was allowed to apply to the trial judge for such certificate. When the defendant applied to the trial judge for the certificate, the trial judge refused to entertain the application on the grounds that the order of the Court of Criminal Appeal had been made without jurisdiction and that the application was made out of time. The trial judge refused to make an order extending the period allowed to the defendant for making the application for a certificate. On appeal by the defendant it was

Held by the Supreme Court ( Ó Dálaigh ó dálaigh C.J., Walsh and Budd JJ.), in disallowing the appeal, that the provisions of Order 86, r. 8, were ultra vires the rule-making authority in so far as that rule purported to confer on the Court of Criminal Appeal jurisdiction to make an order extending the period allowed for applying to the Central Criminal Court (or High Court) for a certificate pursuant to s. 31 of the Courts of Justice Act 1924; and that the provisions of s. 12 of the Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act, 1961, did not confer such jurisdiction.

Appeal from the High Court.

On the 17th January, 1967, the appellant was convicted on indictment and sentenced in the Central Criminal Court to serve two terms of five years penal servitude and one term of three years penal servitude, to run concurrently, with a proviso that upon completion of one year of the sentences the balance of the said terms would be suspended upon the appellant entering into a bond to keep the peace for the remainder of the term of the sentences. Having been released pursuant to the proviso, the appellant was arrested and on the 28th April, 1969, the trial judge ordered that the appellant should serve the balance of four years penal servitude. On the 11th May, 1970, the Court of Criminal Appeal (McLoughlin, Henchy and Pringle JJ.) made an order giving the appellant liberty to apply to the trial judge on or before the 28th May, 1970, for a certificate that the case was a fit one for appeal. The appellant should have applied to the trial judge for such a certificate within three days after the close of his trial. On the 28th May, 1970, the appellant applied to the trial judge (Butler J.) for such certificate and relied on the order of the Court of Criminal Appeal as having extended the period of time for making the application. The trial judge refused to entertain that application on the grounds that it had been made after the period allowed by the Rules of Court had expired, and that the Court of Criminal Appeal had no jurisdiction to enlarge the period for applying to the trial judge for such certificate. On such refusal the appellant applied to the trial judge for an extension of the period allowed for bringing the application, but the trial judge refused this application.

The appellant appealed to the Supreme Court from the order made by the trial judge which, although it expressly dismissed the application to have the relevant period of time extended, was silent in regard to the application (for such certificate) which had been made in reliance upon the extension of time apparently effected by the Court of Criminal Appeal. For the purpose of enabling the validity of the order of the Court of Criminal Appeal to be an issue at the hearing of the appeal to the Supreme Court, the order of the trial judge was treated as if it also contained an express refusal to grant the certificate sought by the appellant.

The appeal was one from an order made by a judge of the Central Criminal Court, which is the name given to the...

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8 cases
  • People v O'Shea
    • Ireland
    • Supreme Court
    • 1 January 1983
    ...Morelli; Vella v.Morelli [1968] I.R. 11; The people (Attorney General) v.Cullen [1969] I.R. 24; The People (Attorney General) v.Cronin [1972] I.R. 159 and The State (D.P.P.) v. Walsh andConneely, unreported, Supreme Court, 16th March 1981. This is also the position adopted by the former ......
  • DPP v Cunningham
    • Ireland
    • Supreme Court
    • 8 October 2002
    ...from statutes, in contrast, for example, to the inherent jurisdiction of the SupremeCourt. 29In The People (Attorney General) v. Cronin [1972] I.R. 159 the Supreme Court held that the provisions of Order 86, r.8 were ultravires the rule making authority insofar as that rule purported to co......
  • People v Aylmer
    • Ireland
    • Supreme Court
    • 1 January 1995
    ...ACT 1916 S23 MCHUGH V MCGOLDRICK 1921 2 IR 163 O'CONNOR, STATE V O CAOMHANAIGH 1963 IR 112 PEOPLE V CONMEY 1975 IR 341 PEOPLE V CRONIN 1972 IR 159 WOODS, STATE V AG 1969 IR 385 Synopsis: CRIMINAL LAW Sentence Suspension - Revival - Bond - Breach - On 16/3/79 the prisoner was sentenced ......
  • DPP v D. W
    • Ireland
    • Court of Appeal (Ireland)
    • 2 June 2020
    ...again breaching the separation of powers envisaged under the Constitution. See the cases of The People (Attorney General) v. Cronin [1972] I.R. 159; Re McIlhagga (cited above); The State (Woods) v. Attorney General [1969] I.R. 385; The State (Morris) v. Governor of Mountjoy Prison (unreport......
  • Request a trial to view additional results
1 books & journal articles
  • In the Irish Courts
    • United Kingdom
    • Sage Journal of Criminal Law, The No. 38-2, April 1974
    • 1 April 1974
    ...Devlin v. Londonderry County Council (1943,N.I. 57).NOEXTENSIONOFTIMEFORAPPEALThePeople(A.G.)v. CroninThedefendant in this case (1972,I.R.159) was convictedandsentenced to penal servitude. Hedidnotapply to the trial judgefor a certificate of leave to appealatthe end ofthetrial or withinthre......

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