THE High Court ruled yesterday that The Irish Times and other media could attend the taking of evidence by Mr Justice Flood from Mr Joseph Murphy snr in Guernsey.
The President of the High Court, Mr Justice Morris, quashed an order made by Mr Justice Flood excluding the media from the hearing on the basis that the judge did not have the power, under the 1921 Tribunals Act, to make such an order.
The Irish Times, the Examiner, RTE and Independent Newspapers had asked the High Court to judicially review Mr Justice Flood's order. This was heard on Monday.
It had been argued on Monday that Mr Justice Flood was "taking evidence on commission" in Guernsey, that this was not a normal hearing of the tribunal and that therefore the press was not entitled to be present.
Mr Justice Morris agreed that normally the taking of evidence "on commission" was not in public.
This only really became evidence when it was accepted or disregarded by a court or tribunal, he said.
However, he drew attention to the fact that Mr Justice Flood himself had said: "It is true that this is a public sitting of the tribunal, but the public aspect of the sitting is catered for by the publication in the public sittings of the tribunal in question by recording the deposition in the records of the public sitting."
Mr Justice Flood had also said that under normal circumstances he would have been happy to accommodate the press, but because of the medical evidence he felt it was, in the public interest, expedient to exclude the public, "for reasons connected with the subject matter of the inquiry and the nature of the evidence to be given".
"It is clear from these extracts from the judgment of the sole member that he regards the procedures in Guernsey as far more than the mere taking of evidence on commission," Mr Justice Morris said.
"He has established that the proceedings will be `a public sitting of the tribunal'."
Turning to the reasons Mr Justice Flood had nonetheless decided to exclude the press, because of the medical evidence on the condition of Mr Murphy, Mr Justice Morris said: "In my view, with great respect to the sole member, there is nothing in the medical evidence to which he refers which bears on `the subject matter of the inquiry'.