Curtin begins final legal bid against probe
Monday, 24 October 2005 20:06
The Circuit Court judge, Brian Curtin, began a final legal bid today to stop a Dáil Committee inquiring into his alleged misbehaviour.
Seven Supreme Court judges are hearing the appeal to a High Court decision handed down last May that the committee is constitutional.
In April 2004 Judge Curtin was acquitted by direction of a trial judge on a charge of possessing child pornography.
The Oireachtas then set in train a procedure to examine the evidence and bring a motion for his removal from office.
In court today, senior counsel John Rogers claimed that the remit of the select committee does not allow it to make any adjudication of recommendation.
Mr Rogers described the committee as a commission. It gathers evidence but cannot make findings of fact or recommendations. This material then goes to the Houses of the Oireachtas but it does not constitute a finding of anything.
He said there is likely to be a dispute about what the evidence means. There would be technical evidence, he said, that Judge Curtin's computer was invaded by viruses and there is a statement from a garda in the book of evidence to that effect.
Judge Curtin claims the material came onto his computer without his intervention.
The hearing centring on the meaning of Article 35 of the constitution is due to last for three days.
