Quinn v Waterford Corporation
| Jurisdiction | Ireland |
| Judge | McCarthy J. |
| Judgment Date | 01 January 1991 |
| Neutral Citation | 1990 WJSC-SC 2951 |
| Court | Supreme Court |
| Docket Number | [S.C. No. 112 of 1988] |
| Date | 01 January 1991 |
AND
1990 WJSC-SC 2951
THE SUPREME COURT
Synopsis:
CONSTITUTION
Dail Eireann
Elections - Voter - Constituency - Registration - Duality - Student - Registrations in home and in college constituencies - Registration of Electors and Juries Acts (Specification of Dates) Regulations, 1963 (S.I.169), articles 11–14 - Electoral Act, 1963, s. 5 - Constitution of Ireland, 1937, Article 16 - (112/88 - Supreme Court - 27/11/90) - [1991] ILRM 433 - [1991] I.L.T. 145
|Quinn v. Corporation of Waterford|
ELECTIONS
Dail Eireann
Voter - Registration - Duality - Student - Registration in home and in college constituencies - (112/88 - Supreme Court - 27/11/90)
|Quinn v. Corporation of Waterford|
WORDS AND PHRASES
"Ordinarily resident"
Elections - Dail Eireann - Voter - Registration - Duality - Student - Registration in home and in college constituencies - (112/88 - Supreme Court - 27/11/90) - [1991] ILRM 433 [1991] ILT 145
|Quinn v. Corporation of Waterford|
Citations:
CONSTITUTION ART 16
CONSTITUTION ART 12.2.2
ELECTORAL ACT 1963 S5
ELECTORAL ACT 1963 S5(1)
ELECTORAL ACT 1963 S5(4)
ELECTORAL ACT 1963 S5(5)
ELECTORAL ACT 1963 S7
REPRESENTATION OF THE PEOPLE ACT 1949 S1(1) (UK)
FOX V STIRK & BRISTOL ELECTORAL REGISTRATION OFFICER 1970 3 WLR 147
GOERTZ, STATE V MIN FOR JUSTICE & ANOR 1948 IR 45
REGISTRATION OF ELECTORS & JURIES ACTS (SPECIFICATION OF DATES) REGS 1963 SI 169/1963 ART 14
REGISTRATION OF ELECTORS & JURIES ACTS (SPECIFICATION OF DATES) REGS 1963 SI 169/1963 ART 11
REGISTRATION OF ELECTORS & JURIES ACTS (SPECIFICATION OF DATES) REGS 1963 SI 169/1963 ART 12(1)
REGISTRATION OF ELECTORS & JURIES ACTS (SPECIFICATION OF DATES) REGS 1963 SI 169/1963 ART 13
REPRESENTATION OF THE PEOPLE ACT 1949 S1(2) (UK)
ELECTORAL ACTS 1923–1980
REGISTRATION OF ELECTORS & JURIES ACT (SPECIFICATION OF DATES) REGS 1963 SI 169/1963
REGISTRATION OF ELECTORS (AMDT) REGS 1977 SI 381/1977
REGISTRATION OF ELECTORS & JURIES ACT (SPECIFICATION OF DATES) REGS 1963 SI 169/1963 ART 12
CONSTITUTION ART 16.4
Judgment of McCarthy J. delivered the 27th day of November, 1990. [NEM DISS]
Article 16 of the Constitution provides as follows:-
2 "1.1 Every citizen without distinction of sex who has reached the age of twenty-one years, and who is not placed under disability or incapacity by this Constitution or by law, shall be eligible for membership of Dail Eireann.
2.
(i) All citizens, and
(ii) such other persons in the State as may be determined by law, without distinction of sex who have reached the age of eighteen years who are not disqualified by law and comply with the provisions of the law relating to the election of members of Dail Eireann, shall have the right to vote at an election for members of Dail Eireann.
3. No law shall be enacted placing any citizen under disability or incapacity for membership of Dail Eireann on the ground of sex or disqualifying any citizen or other person from voting at an election for members of Dail Eireann on that ground.
4. No voter may exercise more than one vote at an election for Dail Eireann, and the voting shall be by secret ballot."
Article 12.2.2 provides that every citizen who has the right to vote at an election for members of Dail Eireann shall have the right to vote at an election for President.
The right to vote for elections to the European Assembly is regulated by the European Assembly Elections Acts, 1977and 1984.
The exercise of the right to vote in these several elections is regulated by the Electoral Acts, 1923to 1980; this appeal is concerned with the construction of part of the Electoral Act 1963.
The Appellants are or were at the relevant time students of the Regional Technical College at Waterford. They bring this appeal not merely on their own behalf but, it is common case, on behalf of over 500 fellow students at the college. It is sufficient to record that during the academic year each of the seven Appellants resides in the County Borough of Waterford, whilst the home of none is within that Borough. Each Appellant is on the Register of Electors for the "home" constituency.
The County Registrar, who is the person charged with the preparation and publication in every year of the Register of Electors refused the claims to have their names included in the Register for the County Borough of Waterford for the year 1988/1989. They appealed to the Circuit Court where the learned Circuit Judge in a clear and comprehensive judgment upheld the decision of the County Registrar. The students appeal to this Court on a point of law upon the grounds as set out in the Notice of Appeal:-
2 "(1) That the learned trial Judge was wrong in law in holding that the Appellants were not ordinarily resident within the constituency of Waterford.
(2) That the learned trial Judge was wrong in law in holding that the County Registrar for the City and County of Waterford was entitled, and acted intra vires, under and by virtue of the Registration of Electors and Juries Acts (Specification of Dates) Regulations 1963 as amended by the 1977 Regulations, and in particular Article 12 of the 1963 Regulations, to look beyond the confines of his own jurisdiction for the purposes of discovering whether all or any of the Appellants were registered in another constituency or to require any person to give information relating thereto.
(3) That the learned trial Judge was wrong in law in holding that the aforesaid County Registrar was entitled to exercise jurisdiction beyond the boundaries of the Waterford constituency in compiling the Register of Electors with a view to European elections and to inform himself by enquiries or otherwise as he thinks necessary for the purposes of ascertaining whether a person is registered in another constituency or constituencies.
(4) That the learned trial Judge was wrong in law in holding that the Registration of Electors and Juries Acts (Specification of Dates) Regulations 1963 as amended by the 1977 Regulations made by the Minister for the Environment under the Electoral Act...
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...residence that was not casual and uncertain. 85. Goertz was cited with approval by the Supreme Court in Quinn v. Waterford Corporation [1990] 2 IR 507. There the question was whether students at Waterford Regional Technical College were, for the purposes of s.5(1)(b) of the Electoral Act 19......
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