Hundreds of charges are now in limbo as Judge Desmond Windle refused to make any order on traffic summonses at Swords District Court, Co Dublin, yesterday.
He also revoked the orders he had already made in 91 cases, wiping out £3,435 in fines.
He made the decision over a question of jurisdiction when he noticed that the words "Dublin Metropolitan District" on the top of a summons had been crossed out by the computer. He did not believe that the words "in the area of Swords District Court" were sufficient.
"The Townlands book of 1902 lists several places called Swords", he said.
Mr Ronan O'Neill, of the State Solicitor's Office, said that procedural errors in issuing summonses were "cured" by the appearance in court of the accused.
They had turned up in Swords District Court.
Judge Windle did not accept this and also refused to consider amending the summonses.
"I'm not going to make amendments to give myself jurisdiction,' he said.
He made no order on the summonses still before the court and revoked all the orders he had already made.
