Four trawler owners accused of 66 offences against EU and Irish laws are to have their cases heard by an Irish-speaking judge.
Their solicitor Paudge Dorrian argued at Donegal District Court that they had a constitutional right that all documents linked to their cases be in Irish and that an interpreter be provided.
Before the court were Seán Flaherty, Ros A Mhil, Baile Na hAbhann, Co Galway; John O'Donnell, Cloghane, Tralee, Co Kerry; and Brendan Gill and Michael Cavanagh, both with addresses in Greencastle, Co Donegal.
All were accused of under-reporting catch sizes and of making false log-book entries in 2003 and 2004 while fishing out of Killybegs.
Mr Gill, skipper of the trawler Brendelen, was served with 25 summonses; Mr Cavanagh, skipper of the Fr McKee with 23 summonses; Mr Flaherty, skipper of the Glór na dTonn with 14 summonses; and Mr O'Donnell, skipper of the Holly B, with four summonses.
The court was given no indication of whether they were admitting or denying the offences.
Mr Dorrian said Mr Flaherty was a native Irish speaker who wanted all documents to be in Irish and the case to be heard in Irish.
The solicitor argued there was a Supreme Court ruling affirming defendants' constitutional right to have cases heard in Irish and for all documents to be in Irish.
He said the regulations under which Mr Flaherty was summonsed were not available in Irish. "I want to read them in Irish because there can be different interpretations between the English and Irish versions and it would be up to a judge to decide the issue."
Mr Dorrian added that Mr Flaherty was entitled to summonses in Irish and until they were issued in Irish, he would be entitled not to attend a hearing.
Garda Insp Jimmy Coen, representing the Attorney General who issued the summonses, said that when gardaí spoke to Mr Flaherty at Mill Street station in Galway, he made no requests for the interviews to be in Irish.
Judge Thomas Fitzpatrick said he would grant the facility to the men to have the cases heard in Irish. He adjourned all four cases to Donegal District Court on January 17th, 2007.
The cases are the first to come before the courts following raids on fishing ports along the west and south coasts two years ago.
More than 100 gardaí with search warrants were involved in the operation when an investigation was ordered by the Government after a Killybegs fisherman alleged that for years trawlermen had been fraudulently recording fish catches.