S. & S. v The Minister for Justice and Equality

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Judge: McKechnie J.,O'Donnell J.
• Judgment Date: 19 December 2019
• Neutral Citation: [2019] IESCDET 298
• Date: 19 December 2019
• Court: Supreme Court
• Docket Number: Supreme Court record no: S:AP:IE:2019:000201 High Court record no: 2017 No. 915 JR

BETWEEN

S.

AND

S.

APPLICANTS

AND

THE MINISTER FOR JUSTICE AND EQUALITY

THE ATTORNEY GENERAL

IRELAND

RESPONDENTS

AND

THE IRISH HUMAN RIGHTS AND EQUALITY COMMISSION

NOTICE PARTY

[2019] IESCDET 298

Supreme Court record no: S:AP:IE:2019:000201

High Court record no: 2017 No. 915 JR

AN CHÚIRT UACHTARACH

THE SUPREME COURT

DETERMINATION

APPLICATION FOR LEAVE TO APPEAL TO WHICH ARTICLE 34.5.4° OF THE CONSTITUTION APPLIES

RESULT: The Court grants leave to the Applicants to appeal to this Court directly from the High Court.

REASONS GIVEN: ORDER SOUGHT TO BE APPEALED

COURT: High Court

DATE OF JUDGMENT OR RULING: 17 th July, 2019 and 29 th July, 2019

DATE OF ORDER: 29 th July, 2019

DATE OF PERFECTION OF ORDER: 25 th October, 2019

THE APPLICATION FOR LEAVE TO APPEAL WAS MADE ON 6 th November, 2019 AND WAS IN TIME.

General Considerations

1 The general principles applied by this court in determining whether to grant or refuse leave to appeal, having regard to the criteria incorporated into the Constitution as a result of the Thirty-third Amendment, have now been considered in a large number of determinations and are fully addressed in both a determination issued by a panel consisting of all of the members of this court in B.S. V. Director of Public Prosecutions [2017] IESCDET 134, (Unreported, Supreme Court, 6 December 2017) and in a unanimous judgment of a full court delivered by O'Donnell J. in Quinn Insurance Ltd. v. PricewaterhouseCoopers [2017] IESC 73, [2017] 3 I.R. 812. The additional criteria required to be met in order that the so-called leapfrog appeal directly from the High Court to this court can be permitted were addressed by the court in Wansboro v. Director of Public Prosecutions [2017] IESCDET 115, (Unreported, Supreme Court, 20 November 2017). Accordingly, it is unnecessary to revisit the new constitutional architecture for the purpose of this determination.

2 Furthermore, the application for leave filed and the respondent's notice are published along with this determination (subject only to any redaction required by law) and it is therefore unnecessary to set out the position of the parties in any detail. No aspect of this ruling has precedential value as a matter of law.

Decision

3 The applicants (The Minister for Justice and Equality, the Attorney General and Ireland) seek leave to appeal to this court pursuant to the provisions of Article 34.5.4o from the decision of the High...