Frances Fitzgerald (Dublin Mid West, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 40:

In page 44, between lines 28 and 29, to insert the following:"(5) Where an order has been made by the Supreme Court in relation to an interlocutory application, procedural application or motion concerning an appeal which is subsequently determinable by the Court of Appeal pursuant to a direction given under Article 64.3.1° of the Constitution or an order made under Article 64.4.1° of the Constitution, the order shall be binding on the Court of Appeal in respect of the issue which is the subject of the appeal.

(6) Subsection (5) is without prejudice to any change of circumstance which may warrant a variation in the terms of the order referred to in that subsection.".

Deputies may recall that under Article 64.3.1° of the Constitution provision is made for the Chief Justice to give a direction that a class of appeals specified in the direction be heard and determined by the court of appeal. However, that article only applies where the appeal in question has not been heard in full or in part by the Supreme Court before establishment day. In general, the mere hearing of an interlocutory application will not in itself mean that the appeal has been heard in part by the Supreme Court. However, it may be appropriate for the Supreme Court's order to be binding on the court of appeal and the amendment is directed towards achieving that end. If there is a change in the circumstances which informed the original order, it will be possible to apply to the court of appeal to vary its terms.

See this speech in context