Court ruling called 'attack on democracy'

A High Court declaration that the Oireachtas has no inherent power to conduct inquiries through its committees which may have an adverse effect on the reputations and careers of citizens was made without due and proper regard to the constitutional role and rights of parliament and the role of government, the Fine Gael TD, Mr Alan Shatter, has told the Supreme Court.

He said the High Court had effectively found the Government had no right to appoint members of the Oireachtas to conduct inquiries and had failed to give due regard to the fact that the establishment of an inquiry into the shooting dead of Mr John Carthy at Abbeylara, Co Longford, in April 2000 was a joint act of both the Oireachtas and the Government.

It was his case that any inquiries under the aegis of the Oireachtas must be approximately related to and in furtherance of a parliamentary function or functions.

His central argument was that the claim by gardaí that the Oireachtas could not conduct a full inquiry into the Garda Commissioner's report on the shooting dead of Mr Carthy was a "full-frontal attack" on parliamentary democracy with far-reaching consequences.

He was beginning his submissions in the continuing appeal by the State against a High Court decision of November last upholding a challenge by 36 gardaí to the inquiry by the Abbeylara sub-committee into the fatal shooting of Mr Carthy following a siege at his home. Mr Carthy died after being shot four times by members of the Garda Emergency Response Unit.

Mr Shatter is a member of the sub-committee, which was established by the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence, Equality and Women's Rights.

The High Court found several defects in the sub-committee's conduct of its inquiry and granted a declaration that the Oireachtas had no inherent power to establish inquiries which might lead to findings of fact or expressions of opinion adverse to the good names of citizens who were not members of the Oireachtas.

The appeal resumes before the seven-judge Supreme Court on Monday with further submissions from Mr Shatter.

Earlier, in concluding submissions on behalf of the sub-committee, Mr Frank Clarke SC rejected the High Court's finding that it had breached fair procedures in the conduct of its inquiry. He said it had provided for the right of all the Garda applicants to cross-examine witnesses.

He agreed that the committee chairman had in his opening statement indicated it was its desire that involvement by lawyers in the proceedings would be kept to a minimum. It was not a ruling, and the chairman was indicating that people should use legal intervention only when necessary to protect their rights.

Mr Clarke accepted that an inquiry by an Oireachtas committee could not be immune from legal challenge in relation to whether it had a right to inquire into a particular matter.