Contempt of court law a ‘minefield’ requiring urgent overhaul, says Supreme Court judge

Mr Justice Peter Charleton is co-author of 'Try something else: contempt and confusion' in the latest edition of the Irish Judicial Studies Journal. Photograph: Dara Mac Dónaill

The comments, made in an academic article, come in the wake of several contempt cases exposing limitations of the contempt jurisdiction, including that of, who has spent more than 300 days in Mountjoy Prison for contempt of court orders restraining his attendance at Wilson’s Hospital school in Co Westmeath.

The authors say the “irony” is that, through decisions by judges, the power of the contempt jurisdiction has arguably been weakened to the extent some may be tempted to exploit “humane developments” in the law as a retreat. While the courts must do their level best to discover the truth of a case, a point may be reached where litigants may shut themselves out from a defence through conduct which fundamentally abuses the nature of the court process, the authors state.

The High Court released the five after 94 days without them purging their contempt after saying imprisonment for civil contempt is primarily coercive and punitive imprisonment should only be used in cases where there has been serious misconduct in order to preserve the court’s authority

Source: Law Daily Report (lawdailyreport.net)

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