The son of a man murdered in a gang-related feud is among up to 20 prisoners who claim they should be released after the law on the activation of suspended sentences was struck down.
Eddie Hutch senior's son Alan, who is detained in the medical unit of Mountjoy Prison, was among the cases which came before the High Court today.
All of the cases have been adjourned to later this month, some are awaiting the outcome of another prisoner's case.
Hutch's case was among five new cases brought yesterday after Mr Justice Michael Moriarty made formal declarations that Section 99.9 and 99.10 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006 are unconstitutional.
Those subsections govern the courts' powers to activate suspended sentences.
Emergency laws to deal with the consequences of the court's declarations are expected in the next two weeks.
The five cases, and another initiated today, bring to almost 20 the cases initiated since Mr Justice Moriarty delivered his judgment on 19 April in which he found the subsections were unconstitutional.
The State is set to contest several of the cases.
Lawyers for Hutch said his was among those affected by the Section 99 ruling.
Conor Power SC, for the Governor of Mountjoy Prison, said his position was Mr Hutch was not detained on foot of an activated sentence and this case should go back to await a judgment expected from Mr Justice McDermott.
Counsel added he had a certificate for the prisoner's detention and handed that into court.
The judge said he was adjourning the case to 25 May when the next law term opens.
He also adjourned the various other cases to dates in the first and second weeks of the new term.
Hutch's application is for an inquiry, under Article 40 of the Constitution, into the legality of his detention.
It is claimed the court orders which have led to his present detention were made under Section 99.9 and 99.10 and that the striking down of those provisions means the sentences imposed on Hutch on 16 May 2013 were not validly imposed.
Hutch was jailed for eight years in May 2013 after he threatened to kill three gardaí, claiming he had a grenade.
At the time, he was also serving a suspended sentence of four years for a 2009 robbery and assaulting a garda.
He pleaded guilty at Dublin Circuit Criminal Court to robbery on Drumcondra Road, Dublin, on 27 August 2012 and to assaulting a garda sergeant during the same incident.
He attempted to bite the garda after being arrested for a robbery of another man.
He also pleaded guilty to car theft, dangerous driving and damaging a garda car during a high-speed chase around north Dublin on 1 October 2012.
He admitted escaping from lawful custody at the Mater Hospital on the same day.
Hutch, with 48 previous convictions, was arrested a week after escaping from custody in the Mater Hospital and later committed an armed robbery with a knife in Dublin city centre.
During his detention, he has been described as a model prisoner. In court documents, it was stated he has been detained in the medical unit in Mountjoy for his own protection since about February 2016, when his father was shot dead.
