Vol. 204 No. 7
asked the Taoiseach the reasons why the Attorney General ordered the transfer of a case (name supplied) from Wexford Circuit Court to the Central Criminal Court in Dublin; and why, in view of the fact that the accused in the case were returned for trial one and a half months before the Circuit Court sitting, the Attorney General gave only two and a half days notice of the transferring of the case to Dublin.
5.
asked the Taoiseach whether he is aware that, by the action of the Attorney General in transferring a case (name supplied) from Wexford Circuit Court to the Central Criminal Court in Dublin at two and a half days notice, the Attorney General has caused great inconvenience and expense to the eighty jurors who had already been empanelled for the trial of the case in Wexford, and who could not be put off from attending at court owing to the short notice; that the two days of the five-day sitting of the Wexford Circuit Court set aside for the hearing of the case in question will now be wasted, while many cases had previously been put off to the November sessions in order to allow for the hearing of this case, thus causing inconvenience to the litigants concerned; and that great inconvenience and difficulty has been caused to witnesses and all concerned in the case owing to the shortness of the notice of the transfer to Dublin; and if he will investigate the circumstances surrounding the transfer of this case at such short notice and take steps to prevent a recurrence of such incidents in the future.
With your permission, Sir, I propose to take Questions Nos. 4 and 5 together.
As I said in reply to a question put to me in this House on 24th July, 1962, the statutory provision for transfers of criminal trials from the circuit court to the Central Criminal Court was designedly framed in a way which made it unnecessary to state to the court the reasons for a transfer, whether the application is made by the prosecution or by the defence, and it has not been the practice to state reasons to the court. It will be appreciated that, in such circumstances, it would be undesirable if reasons were to be elicited in answer to Parliamentary Questions.
There is no obligation on either side, in a criminal case, to give notice of intention to apply for the transfer of a case from the circuit court to the Central Criminal Court. Applications for transfer are, I understand, frequently made, without notice, on the day of the hearing.
As far as I am aware, no inconvenience or difficulty was caused to the witnesses in this case.
I have no responsibility for the ordering of court business. This is a matter for the county registrar— subject to the approval of the circuit judge—and solicitors for litigants are consulted in advance.
Did I hear the Taoiseach say there was no inconvenience caused to jurors? Does he not believe me when I say that there was no time within which the county registrar could notify the jurors because the Attorney General had given only 2½ days at the week-end? Surely the Taoiseach must admit there was inconvenience to 80 jurors who left their businesses and their farms to attend for a hearing?
I do not understand why it was not possible to rearrange the court business.
Not the court business.
As far as inconvenience to jurors is concerned, surely the complaint should have been on the part of the Dublin jurors. In Wexford, I understand, jurors are called only once in ten years while in the case of Dublin it is every 2½ years.
Will the Taoiseach admit that 2½ days notice was not good enough?
It is not unusual that the application for transfer is made on the day when the trial is due to take place.
Arguments may be made but here the jurors were confronted with an order from the Attorney General that the case be sent to the Central Criminal Court.
The Deputy is wrong in thinking arguments are used. As I have said, it has not been the practice to state reasons in court for the transfer of a case to the Central Criminal Court.
Would the Taoiseach undertake that in future the Attorney General will ensure longer notice is given?
I could not undertake that.
Does the Taoiseach appreciate, in relation to his remarks regarding Dublin jurors, that in Cork jurors have to be brought 60, 70 or 80 miles and are completely out of touch with their families for days on end, that they are far more deserving of sympathy than Dublin jurors?
The Deputy may be assured they have my sympathy.
Will the Taoiseach translate his sympathy into something more practical by getting the Minister for Justice to reply to a request from the Cork County Council——
Now, the Deputy is travelling far too widely.
