The Criminal Assets Bureau has decided to appeal today's High Court decision, concerning material seized from the former assistant Dublin County Manager, George Redmond. The High Court ruled that the Flood Tribunal had the power to decide whether the Bureau should hand over the material. The appeal will be made to the Supreme Court.
Last February, the Criminal Assets Bureau arrested George Redmond and seized cheques and other documents from him. Around the same time, the Flood Tribunal made orders requiring Mr. Redmond to provide it with relevant documentation. He could not comply and the Tribunal then sought the material from the Criminal Assets Bureau.
Detective Chief Superintendent Fachtna Murphy, of the CAB, attended the Tribunal and told it that he was claiming privilege on the documents. He said that did not want his ongoing investigations compromised. His lawyers challenged the jurisdiction of the Tribunal to rule on the question of privilege. Mr. Justice Flood disagreed and ruled there was no privilege. The CAB had claimed that this was a matter that should only be decided by the courts.
The CAB then challenged the Flood decision in the High Court. The bad news for the Bureau is that that Mr. Justice McCrackan found today that the Tribunal does indeed have the jurisdiction to determine this dispute. However, the documents are still in the possession of the CAB, because the court also found that Mr. Justice Flood must reconsider this question of privilege.
