The president of the High Court, Mr Justice Joseph Finnegan, said yesterday he was not carrying out an inquiry into an incident at the District Court on Saturday when solicitor Yvonne Bambury was removed from the court on the instructions of a district judge.
Some solicitors left the District Court in protest at the treatment of their colleague.
Arising from the events at the District Court, applications for inquiries into the legality of the detention of two of Ms Bambury's clients were brought before the High Court on Saturday and were returned to yesterday.
Yesterday, Mr Justice Finnegan made no order in one of the cases because the client in question had taken up bail on Saturday night (which bail had been granted by District Judge Patrick Brady after Judge Brady had directed Ms Bambury be removed from the court after she protested at his handling of her application to adjourn the bail application to Monday).
In the case of the other client, Mr Justice Finnegan ordered the man's release after finding Judge Brady's order remanding that man in custody suffered from "a constitutional infirmity".
The judge said it was "a misconception" that he was carrying out an inquiry into the conduct of either Judge Brady or Ms Bambury.
Mr Justice Finnegan said neither the district judge nor the solicitor were parties to the applications under Article 40 of the Constitution concerning Ms Bambury's clients. He said the parties were the clients themselves and the governor of Cloverhill Prison and neither Judge Brady nor Ms Bambury could be directly affected by anything that was found in determining the application.
Mr Justice Finnegan said information on the applications could be procured for the Chief Prosecution Solicitor only from either the prosecuting garda or the District Court clerk. It was not appropriate nor was it the practice for the district judge to appear unless he wished to do so.
"I am not engaged in an inquiry into the judge's conduct or the solicitor's conduct," he added.
The judge said he had been told that a number of solicitors had left the District Court on Saturday.
That was something that should not be done lightly and the primary duty of a solicitor was to their client, he said.
"I am not criticising the solicitors, " he added. "I just feel it is a matter that should not be lightly done, and I don't say it was lightly done in this case because I don't know."
Eilis Brennan, for the DPP and the Chief Prosecution Solicitor, said the president of the District Court had communicated to them that the district judge wanted some time to consider the papers in the case.
Brendan Grehan SC, who appeared for one of Ms Bambury's clients, Philip Kenny, said that on Saturday Ms Bambury was removed from the court and had had no choice about representing her clients. He said that the case was dealt with in her absence by the district judge because she had been directed to leave the court.