Pollution case adjourned over court clerk ruling

The recent High Court ruling ag ainst the manner of appointment of a district court clerk has led to the adjournment of a case…

The recent High Court ruling ag ainst the manner of appointment of a district court clerk has led to the adjournment of a case being brought against the US multinational company, Procter & Gamble, which was summonsed for polluting a public water supply. Mr Justice McCracken had found that the court clerk in a district court case against Mr Patrick Devanney had been invalidly appointed and the appointment should have been made personally by the Minister for Justice. Before last Friday, such appointments were generally processed by "authorised officers".

The company had been prosecuted by the Environmental Protection Agency on three counts of causing or permitting polluting matter to enter waters contrary to Section 2 (1) of the Local Government Water Pollution Act 1977 at Gortlandroe Industrial Estate during August 1996.

The waters were contained in a well on its property which is used for the Nenagh town supply in Co Tipperary.

When the case resumed yesterday before Nenagh District Court, Mr Michael McGrath, for Procter & Gamble, cited the case of Dev anney versus District Justice Daniel Shields and others, and the fin ding that the court clerk in ques tion had not been appointed in a manner envisaged by the 1926 Court Officers Act.

READ MORE

He submitted that, as the law stood, the summonses against Procter & Gamble were not valid and should be struck out. At the very least, he said, they should be adjourned until the matter was finalised.

"This case appears to be on all fours with the McCracken decision," Mr McGrath claimed.

Counsel for the EPA, Mr Martin Hayden, accepted that there had been "a radical change [of circumstances] in recent days" but it was inappropriate to strike out the summonses.

The 1925 Documentary Evidence Act, he noted, had allowed administrative functions to be delegated to administrative or executive officers - which included the appointment of the court clerks.

He recommended that the court adjourn pending an appeal of the Devanney case, which he understood was likely to be brought by the State, and clarification of "the ministerial function".

Judge John O'Neill, having read the McCracken judgment, agreed the case against Procter & Gamble could not proceed. He adjourned the case until February 6th, 1998, pending the appeal.

"We set aside four days to finish this case this week but unfortunately Friday's events have over taken us," he added.

Kevin O'Sullivan

Kevin O'Sullivan

Kevin O'Sullivan is Environment and Science Editor and former editor of The Irish Times