The High Court has overturned a District Court judge's refusal to convict 34 drivers for speeding offences after remarking that the use of GoSafe speed vans on a particular stretch of road was like "shooting fish in a barrel".
Mr Justice Cian Ferriter had been asked to judicially review the decision by the District Court judge sitting in Laois in December 2024, which was made after he circulated written remarks at the outset of a hearing involving 40 speeding cases arising from the same stretch of road at Clogheen near Monasterevin in Co Kildare.
The drivers were subject to Fixed Charged Notices and the cases had come to court after they had not been paid.
The judge had made it clear that in his view, the 60km/h speed limit was too low, given the nature of the road, and that there was a disproportionate number of speeding offences being prosecuted from that location.
He had also remarked that the GoSafe speeding vans had deliberately targeted an unjust speed zone.
While the judge found the facts proven in the cases, he refused to convict in 34 cases saying it would be unjust to do so.
The DPP had taken High Court proceedings seeking to quash the judge's decisions and a lead case was heard in April.
In a judgment issued today, Mr Justice Ferriter said the cases involved the important issue of judicial impartiality. He said law was clear - once the prosecution proved that the speed limit was exceeded, the District Judge was obliged to convict, irrespective of how unjust he thought the underlying speed limit was.
Judge Ferriter said the question of fixing speed limits in any given area was a matter for the legislature and local authorities, and not a matter for the judiciary.
He said that in his view, the approach of the district judge was wrong on a number of legal bases, including having regard to irrelevant or illegitimate factors.
He said the judge had also acted in breach of fair procedures by delivering remarks which gave the "reasonable apprehension of pre-determination".
"At the risk of stating the obvious, it is not generally appropriate for a judge to express views calling into question the decisions of members of the executive in relation to legislative policy," Judge Ferriter added.
He also said it was also inappropriate for the judge to impugn the bona fides of those involved in the collection of evidence in relation to the commission of speeding offences.
The case will return to court on 11 June.
