The State (Taylor) v Wicklow Circuit Court Judge and Others

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Judgment Date: 01 January 1953
• Date: 01 January 1953
• Docket Number: (1949. No. 10 S.S.)
• Court: High Court

(H.C.)

The State (Taylor)

and

Wicklow Circuit Court Judge and Others

Prosecution for driving or attempting to drive mechanically propelled vehicle in a public place while drunk - Whether offence one known to the law - No proof offered of Road Traffic Act, 1933, having been brought into operation - Whether the fact that the Act was in operation ought to be judicially noticed- Habeas corpus - Certiorari - Road Traffic Act, 1933 (No. 11 of 1933), ss. 2, 30.

T. was prosecuted in the District Court and convicted, under s. 30 of the Road Traffic Act, 1933, of attempting to drive a mechanically propelled vehicle in a public place while drunk. He was sentenced to "one month's imprisonment with H.L." On appeal to the Circuit Court the prosecutor submitted inter alia 1, that the prosecution was not entitled to succeed in the absence of proof that Part III of the said Act (containing s. 30) had been brought into operation as provided by the Act. The learned Circuit Court Judge ruled, in effect, that he was entitled to take judicial notice of the fact that the said Act was in force at the material time; he, therefore, refused to accede to this submission. It was further contended on behalf of the prosecutor that the conviction was bad as (a) it did not state that the offence was a statutory offence or specify the relevant statute; (b) it did not show on its face that s. 30 of the said Act was in force at the time of the alleged offence; (c) it charged an offence not known to the law, and imposed a sentence not known to the law, viz., "to be imprisoned for one month with H.L." The Circuit Court Judge having dismissed the appeal and affirmed the conviction and sentence, the District Justice issued a warrant of execution of the sentence and the prosecutor was taken into custody and lodged in Mountjoy Prison. He thereupon obtained a conditional order of habeas corpus ad subjiciendumdirected to the Governor of Mountjoy Prison, and a conditional order of certiorari, directed to the Circuit Court Judge and the District Justice, to have the conviction by the District Justice, the affirmance by the Circuit Court Judge, and the warrant of committal brought up into the High Court for the purpose of being quashed. On the application...