In the Irish Courts
| DOI | 10.1177/002201836202600107 |
| Published date | 01 January 1962 |
| Date | 01 January 1962 |
| Subject Matter | Article |
In the Irish Courts
SUPREME
COURT
IN
EIRE
PLACE OF COMMISSION OF A CRIMINAL OFFENCE
Smyth
fEj Fordham v. Dun LaoghaireB.C. fEj anr.
Mu
CH
of the importance of the place of commission of
a criminal offence disappeared with
the
abolition of
the old rules of venue,
but
from time to time it is still a matter
of concern to prosecutors.
The
instant case (1960, Ir, Jur. Rep.
58) was one in which it was clear that the offence of malicious
damage to property had been committed. Proceedings were
brought under the Criminal Injuries Code, for the recovery of
compensation for this damage, against the local authorities
within whose boundaries it was alleged to have occurred. A
ship which had been laid up for the winter was moored to a
pier dolphin by ropes and cables attached to bollards on
the
pier; it was not connected with the pier or dolphin
but
lay
in
the
water, alongside. Some unknown person removed the
plugs from five sea-cocks and the ship sank.
It
was argued on
behalf of
the
claimant that the malicious damage had been
perpetrated within the boundaries of the borough and the
County within which the harbour was geographically situated,
in that the water was always treated as part of the geographical
areas and, being national water, must be regarded as being
within the County to which it is adjacent.
The
local authorities
claimed (i) that the water was excluded from both borough and
county areas (as witnessed by the fact that it was excluded from
those authorities' rates); and that (ii) there is no presumption
that territorial or national waters are within any county.
In
the result, the Circuit Court Judge, the President of
the
High Court and four of the five Supreme Court Judges
held that the offence of damaging the vessel in the waters of
the harbour was not committed within either the borough or
the
county. Maguire J. held that, although the waters may
ss
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