Download The Irish Supreme Court: Jurisdiction, Hearings, and Important Cases and more Lecture notes Law in PDF only on Docsity! S The Supreme Court Lynda Edwards, Andres, Sabrina & Tanya Harris Table of Content The Supreme Court Supreme Court in the Constitution Supreme Court Hearings History The first instance Jurisdiction of the Court in Civil/Criminal Cases Civil jurisdiction of the Supreme Court Zalewski v Adjudication Officer [2018] IESCDET 94 Supreme Court Hearings Usually with 3 or 5 judges but exceptionally with 7 judges. Hearings concerning constitutional validity of an act of Oireachtas requires at least 5 judges Request to give an opinion on constitutional validity of a bill adopted by Oireachtas when referred to it by the President of Ireland under Article 26 of the Constitution 5 Judges. 5 Judges minimum are required to determine if the President has become permanently incapacitated. From 5 to 7 judges will be required to sit in appeals involving questions of law of particular importance or complexity. If an insufficient number of judges of Supreme Court are available the Chief Justice may request any ordinary Judge of High Court to sit as a member of the Supreme Court for the hearing of a particular appeal. History The Supreme Court of Judicature Act of 1877 Unified Supreme Court structure This act prescribed “the fusion of law and equity”. Courts of Probate and Exchequer were incorporated into separate divisions of the High Court. Constitution 1922 Supreme Courts according to Article 34 and 38 of the Irish Constitution (1937) Jurisdiction Art. 34 Constitution Jurisdiction transferred to the Court of Appeal Original Jurisdiction Constitutional Jurisdiction Under s9 of the civil law Act 2008, the Minister for justice is empowered to prescribe court fees. In Murphy v Minister for justice [2001] the SC held that it was not unconstitutional that court fees should be charged, provided they were reasonable. In that case , the constitutional right under consideration was that of access to the courts. The appellate jurisdiction of the Court The appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court is set out in Article 34.4.3. The Supreme Court shall, subject to exceptions proscribed by law, have appellate jurisdiction from all decisions of the High Court. However this Article should be read in conjunction with Article 34.4.4 which states that no law shall be enacted, excepting from the appellate jurisdiction of the Supreme Court, matters which involve questions on the Constitutionality of any law. Zalewski v Adjudication Officer [2018] IESCDET 94 Art. 34.5.4 “…the decision involves a matter of public interest” The applicant, Mr Zalewski, was dismissed from his employment as a supervisor with the notice party on 26th April, 2016 under Unfair Dismissals Act 1977. Adjudication of the claim was made pursuant to workplace Relations Act 2015. The Adjudications Officer gave a hearing, which lasted for 10 minutes. After this hearing he issued a determination saying that the dismissal was fair. High Court: the applicant does not have locus standi to challenge, the constitutional validity of the relevant provisions of the 2015 Act or to maintain a claim under the European Convention on Human Rights Act, 2003. Supreme Court: The Court has decided that the locus standi of the applicant to continue with his challenge . Art. 34.5.4. Constitution.
