IT was for the Government to decide whether the Special Criminal Court should cease, the Supreme Court ruled yesterday.
The five-judge court affirmed a High Court decision dismissing a challenge to the continued existence of the Special Criminal Court.
The challenge was taken by James Kavanagh (38), unemployed, of Benbulben Road,
Crumlin, Dublin, who was charged following the kidnapping of banker Mr James Lacey at Blackrock, Co Dublin.
Mr Justice Barrington said that on July 19th 1994, Kavanagh was arrested on several charges in connection with the false imprisonment of Mr Lacey and others on November 2nd, 1993; with robbery, demanding monies with menaces and possession of a firearm.
On July 20th, 1994, Kavanagh was charged directly before the Special Criminal Court with those offences, six of which were not scheduled offences.
In respect of the non-scheduled offences, the Director of Public Prosecutions had certified, under Section 47.2 of the Offences Against the State Act, that the ordinary courts were inadequate to secure the effective administration of justice and the preservation of public peace and order in relation to Kavanagh's trial.
The DPP had directed that Kavanagh be charged with those offences in the Special Criminal Court.
In November 1994, the High Court gave leave to Kavanagh to seek a number of reliefs.
They included a declaration that there was no reasonable basis for the DPP to believe the ordinary courts were inadequate to secure the effective administration of justice and preservation of public peace.
A declaration was also sought that prosecuting Kavanagh before the Special Criminal Court unfairly discriminated against him, in contravention of Article 40 (1) of the Constitution and Article 6 (1) of the European Convention on Human Rights.
On October 6th, 1995, the High Court rejected all Kavanagh's grounds and made an order refusing him any relief.
Kavanagh had submitted that the Government's proclamation of May 26th, 1972, was meant to deal with subversive offences arising out of the crisis in Northern Ireland.
He argued it was never intended that the Special Criminal Court should deal with what could be referred to as "ordinary crime".
Mr Justice Barrington, in his Supreme Court judgment, said the question of whether the ordinary courts were or were not adequate to secure effective administration of justice and preservation of public peace was primarily a political question and, for that reason, was left to the legislature and the executive.