Former chairman of Anglo Irish Bank Seán FitzPatrick has been given permission by the High Court to challenge the refusal of Circuit Court Judge Patrick McCartan to withdraw from presiding over Mr FitzPatrick's forthcoming trial.
Mr FitzPatrick, 66, has pleaded not guilty to 27 offences under the 1990 Companies Act.
He has denied making misleading, false or deceptive statements to auditors and has denied furnishing false information between 2002 and 2007.
His trial is due to begin on 25 May.
Mr FitzPatrick's lawyers had asked Judge McCartan to recuse himself, or withdraw, from Mr FitzPatrick's pending trial, but the judge had refused.
Mr FitzPatrick's Senior Counsel, Bernard Condon, said his client wanted a fair trial, just as everyone else was entitled to.
Prosecuting counsel John Byrne said the DPP was not objecting to Mr FitzPatrick's application for permission to bring the challenge to Judge McCartan's decision.
High Court judge Mr Justice Richard Humphreys ruled that Mr FitzPatrick had raised points which had not previously been decided by the courts.
He said he had shown that he had an arguable case and raised points which merited clarification.
He granted him permission to bring the challenge to Judge McCartan's decision.
Mr Justice Humphreys also directed Mr FitzPatrick's legal team to return to the Circuit Court before the end of this week and reapply to Judge McCartan.
He said this would allow Judge McCartan to discuss the issue with the Circuit Court President.
The matter is due back before the High Court next week.
