Annual Report Supreme Court of Ireland Supreme Court Cúirt Uachtarach na hÉireann Supreme Court of Ireland Annual Report 2018 Report published by the Supreme Court of Ireland with the support of the Courts Service. Editors: Sarahrose Murphy, Senior Executive Legal Officer to the Chief Justice Patrick Conboy, Executive Legal Officer to the Chief Justice Case summaries prepared by the following Judicial Assistants: Seán Beatty Iseult Browne Paul Carey Patrick Dunne Luke McCann Paul McDonagh Forde Rachael O’Byrne Owen O’Donnell © Supreme Court of Ireland 2019 Contents Foreword ...................................................................................................................................... 7 Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 8 Part 1 | About the Supreme Court of Ireland ............................................................................ 13 Jurisdiction ............................................................................................................................ 14 Background ........................................................................................................................ 14 1. Appellate jurisdiction ..................................................................................................... 14 2. Appellate Constitutional jurisdiction ............................................................................ 15 3. Original jurisdiction ....................................................................................................... 15 Seat of the Supreme Court ..................................................................................................... 17 The Supreme Court Courtroom ......................................................................................... 18 The Hugh Kennedy Courtroom ......................................................................................... 19 Journey of a typical Appeal .................................................................................................. 20 The new jurisdiction of the Supreme Court - an evolving one ............................................ 24 ‘Leapfrog’ Appeals ................................................................................................................. 26 Case management ................................................................................................................. 26 Members of the Supreme Court of Ireland ........................................................................... 27 Mr. Justice Frank Clarke ................................................................................................... 28 The Role of the Chief Justice ............................................................................................ 29 Entry into office of the President of Ireland ..................................................................... 30 Other responsibilities ........................................................................................................ 30 Appointments ..................................................................................................................... 31 Mr. Justice Donal O’Donnell ............................................................................................ 33 Mr. Justice William M. McKechnie .................................................................................. 34 Mr. Justice John MacMenamin ........................................................................................ 35 Ms. Justice Elizabeth Dunne ............................................................................................ 36 Mr. Justice Peter Charleton ............................................................................................... 37 Ms. Justice Iseult O’Malley ............................................................................................... 38 Ms. Justice Mary Finlay Geoghegan ................................................................................. 39 Mr. Justice George Birmingham ....................................................................................... 40 Mr. Justice Peter Kelly ....................................................................................................... 41 Recently Retired Members of the Supreme Court ........................................................... 42 Remembering Adrian Hardiman | 1951 – 2016 ............................................................... 43 The Constitution of Ireland .............................................................................................. 44 Part 2 | The Supreme Court in 2018 ......................................................................................... 47 Statistics ................................................................................................................................. 47 Applications for Leave to Appeal ........................................................................................... 47 3 | Supreme Court of Ireland | Annual Report 2018 Categorisation of Applications for Leave to Appeal ............................................................. 48 Applications for Leave to Appeal from the High Court and Court of Appeal .................. 48 Applications for Leave to Appeal directly from the High Court ...................................... 48 Full Appeals Determined in 2018 ......................................................................................... 52 New Jurisdiction Appeals ................................................................................................. 52 Article 64 ‘Returns’ ........................................................................................................... 52 Article 64 Applications ......................................................................................................... 53 Requests for Preliminary Rulings by the Supreme Court to the Court of Justice of the European Union .................................................................................................................... 53 Minister for Justice and Equality v. Lisauskas [2018] IESC 42 .................................... 54 Minister for Justice and Equality v. Dunauskis [2018] IESC 43 .................................... 54 Minister for Justice v. O’Connor [2018] IESC 3; [2018] IESC 19 .................................... 55 Case summaries .................................................................................................................... 56 Garda Representative Association & anor v. Minister for Public Expenditure and Reform [2018] IESC 4 ........................................................................................................ 57 Criminal Assets Bureau v. Murphy [2018] IESC 12 ........................................................ 58 I.R.M. & ors v. Minister for Justice and Equality [2018] IESC 14 .................................. 59 The People (at the suit of The Director of Public Prosecutions) v. K.M. [2018] 1 I.R. 810 ........................................................................................................................................... 60 Attorney General v. Davis [2018] IESC 27 ....................................................................... 61 In the matter of the Adoption Act, 2010, Section 49(2), and in the matter of JB (a minor) and KB (a minor) [2018] IESC 30 ....................................................................... 62 Connelly v. An Bord Pleanála [2018] IESC 31 ................................................................. 63 Data Protection Commissioner & anor v. Facebook Ireland Limited & anor [2018] IESC 38 .............................................................................................................................. 64 Callaghan v. An Bord Pleanála [2018] IESC 39 .............................................................. 65 Allied Irish Bank plc v. Aqua Fresh Fish Ltd. [2018] IESC 49 ........................................ 66 C v. Minister for Social Protection [2018] IESC 57 ......................................................... 67 Fitzpatrick & anor v. An Bord Pleanala & ors [2018] IESC 60 ...................................... 68 DPP v. Wansboro [2018] IESC 63 .................................................................................... 69 DPP v. Brown [2018] IESC 67 .......................................................................................... 70 Part 3 | Education and Outreach ............................................................................................... 72 Supreme Court Sitting in Limerick .................................................................................... 72 Broadcasting of Supreme Court proceedings .................................................................... 73 Third Level Institutions ..................................................................................................... 74 Mooting Competitions ....................................................................................................... 75 Student Law Reviews ........................................................................................................ 76 The Irish Supreme Court Review ...................................................................................... 76 Publications and extra-judicial speeches .........................................................................