R v McGlinchey
| Jurisdiction | Northern Ireland |
| Judgment Date | 01 January 1985 |
| Date | 01 January 1985 |
| Court | Court of Criminal Appeal (Northern Ireland) |
- Affidavits sworn for use in courts in the Republic of Ireland - Whether admissible - Whether prejudicial - Fingerprints - Whether correct inference drawn - Whether fair trial - Whether abuse of process - Whether verdict unsafe or unsatisfactory - Evidence Act, 1851 (c. 93), ss. 7, 9 - Ireland Act, 1949 (c. 41), s. 3(2).
The appellant was convicted of murder. The evidence at the trial consisted of two of the appellant's fingerprints found on the car used in the fatal attack, forensic evidence that weapons used in the attack had been used in a number of other terrorist attacks in Counties Antrim and Londonderry, affidavits sworn by the appellant for the purpose of resisting his extradition from the Republic of Ireland to Northern Ireland in which he said that he was an active member of the Provisional I.R.A. and a member of the active service unit of the Provisional I.R.A. which operated in the South Derry area. At the trial evidence proposed to be given to the effect that the Provisional I.R.A. was the only terrorist organisation attacking the security forces in the area in the period in question was ruled inadmissible. On appeal it was argued that copies of affidavits filed in courts in the Republic of Ireland were not admissible under section 7 of the Evidence Act, 1851, as that section had not been specifically adapted following the creation of the Irish Free State, that the statements in the affidavits had not been made voluntarily and that admission of the affidavit evidence was contrary to the rule that evidence of previous discreditable behaviour by an accused was not to be admitted for the purpose of proving that the accused committed the crime charged. Held, allowing the appeal that, 1, the statements made for the purposes of proceedings in the Republic of Ireland were admissible. There was no technical difficulty in the notion that before 1922 section 7 of the 1851 Act did not apply to the courts in the part of Ireland which became the Irish Free State, yet did so apply after 1922. The Irish Free State (Consequential Adaptation of Enactments) Order, 1923, adapted section 10 of the 1851 Act, which provides for the admissibility of documents...
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