March 2014 – Ireland
In DPP v Gormley, a suspect was questioned following arrest before the arrival of his requested solicitor and made incriminating admissions. The Court found that Irish law was not compliant with international jurisprudence, so the suspect’s admissions were excluded and his conviction was quashed. It is expected that existing case-law specifically providing that a suspect is not entitled to have his lawyer present during police interrogation will also be overturned in due course, a significant move in light of the fact that Ireland has not opted into the Access to a Lawyer Directive.
In the joined case, DPP v White, the Supreme Court ruled that a suspect in police detention did not have the right to legal advice following a police demand for, and prior to the giving of, forensic samples. The Court found that because the test results were objective, and that the suspect was legally obliged to provide them, no real issue arose entitling him to have legal advice prior to the samples being taken.
