A former Irish Army private, who has served 15 years of a life sentence for the murder of Patricia O'Toole in the Dublin mountains, will apply next week to the High Court for his release from prison.
Sean Courtney is challenging the constitutionality of the laws providing for a mandatory life sentence for murder.
He also claims that he is now eligible for, and should be granted, temporary release.
He is arguing that the failure to release him, having served 15 years, is in breach of his rights under the Constitution and the European Convention of Human Rights Act 2003.
The 41-year-old from South Circular Road in Dublin was found guilty in January 1993 by a jury at the Central Criminal Court of murdering 32-year-old Patricia O'Toole from Killiney, at Mount Venus Road in Rathfarnham in August 1991.
Courtney had admitted killing Ms O'Toole but claimed he was insane at the time.
He claimed he could not refrain from what he was doing by virtue of suffering post-traumatic stress disorder as a result of his experiences in Lebanon.
During the trial, Courtney said an army friend had accidentally shot himself while on duty in the Lebanon in 1987 and this and other incidents, including coming under fire from 'armed Arabs', had a terrible effect on him.
The case was mentioned before Mr Justice Liam McKechnie who made a production order allowing Courtney to attend the hearing.
The case, listed for next Wednesday, is expected to last for three to four days.
Courtney received a life sentence following his nine day trial.
His subsequent appeal against that conviction was rejected by the Court of Criminal Appeal in 1994.
Courtney admitted picking-up victim
During his trial, the jury heard that in a statement to gardaí Courtney admitted he picked up Ms O'Toole early on the morning of 31 August 1991 after she stopped his car to ask for directions.
He said he had been at a disco where he had drunk 12 or 13 pints of lager.
He claimed Ms O'Toole did not know where she was going and he had offered to drive her to a friend's house.
He claimed Ms O'Toole had said during a conversation: 'You never know who you pick up at this time of night. I could get you done for attacking me if I went to the police. It would be only your word against mine.'
In his statement, he said she 'was laughing about me and seemed to think it was a big joke. I didn't know what to think. I just blew a fuse and went mad'.
His counsel said Courtney, because of his PTSD, had interpreted what she said as a threat.
He said he struck Ms O'Toole who went semi-conscious and he then panicked and drove the car towards the mountains.
He said that, as he drove, she came to and started to scream. He said he pulled into a gateway, there was a struggle, and he grabbed a rock and kept hitting her.
He said: 'I just went mad. I grabbed some type of rock and started hitting her on the head and face with it.
'I hit her several times, sometimes holding the rock with my two hands.'
He said Ms O'Toole was screaming and her last words to him were: 'Don't ruin your life.'
He said she eventually went quiet and stopped breathing. He said he took her clothes off and threw them in a field 'so as to make it look as if she was attacked''.
The trial heard gardaí traced Courtney through a bloody handprint left by him and through other forensic evidence.
