A suspended garda detective will begin a High Court challenge to the Morris tribunal today in an attempt to have a new module adjourned.
The Burnfoot module, which was due to begin today, has already been halted following an interim injunction granted on Saturday to the legal team of Det Sgt John White.
The detective wants the module deferred until a criminal trial in which he is being prosecuted is completed. He denies the charge and all allegations against him.
The move follows a judgment last Friday by tribunal chairman Mr Justice Frederick Morris refusing the detective's application to adjourn the module.
The chairman ruled that the module should proceed in private as a public hearing could prejudice Sgt White's criminal trial. He said the evidence would cover the same issues as those to be heard in the trial.
The suspended detective's lawyers will apply today for leave to seek a judicial review challenging the chairman's decision.
The module concerns circumstances surrounding the arrest and detention of seven people in Burnfoot, Co Donegal, on May 23rd, 1998. A firearm and ammunition were apparently found at a Travellers' encampment after a garda search. It is alleged that Sgt White planted the gun.
After an internal garda investigation, Sgt White was charged on June 20th, 2001, with having possession of a double-barrelled sawn-off 12 gauge shotgun in Burnfoot on May 22nd, 1998.
In June 2004, he took a High Court case seeking to prohibit his prosecution on the grounds of alleged non-disclosure and non-preservation of certain evidence. The case was heard last June and judgment is still awaited.
The detective's legal team at the tribunal submitted that he wished to have all matters concerning him heard in public and that the module should be adjourned until completion of the criminal trial.
The chairman said he was not satisfied that it was in the interests of justice or necessary to protect the right of Sgt White to a fair trial to grant an adjournment until the conclusion of the criminal proceedings.
He said the legal cases could go on for some time, particularly if they were appealed. It was now more than four years since Sgt White was charged. Delays had already taken place in the hearing of the trial and there was a realistic danger that it could be some years before it came to a hearing, if ever.