Prisoner transfer applications still on hold almost a year after court ruling

Transfer applications to Ireland from prisoners abroad remain on hold following a ruling handed down by the Supreme Court nearly a year ago.

Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald has confirmed that applications are on hold until the Department of Justice concludes its consideration of the judgment’s implications.

In September 2014, the High Court ordered the release of three men after finding that it could not retrospectively adapt, so as to achieve compatibility with Irish law, the warrants detaining the men here following their transfer from English prisons in 2006.

The O’Farrell, Rafferty and McDonald case was appealed to the Supreme Court, where the Government’s case was defeated.

Ms Fitzgerald said: “My Department is considering the implications, legal and administrative, of the judgment of the Supreme Court.

“Pending the conclusion of these considerations, which may well indicate a need for legislative change, applications from prisoners abroad are currently on hold.”

If legislative change is essential, the relevant provisions are likely to be incorporated into an already-planned bill on prisoner transfers.

Ms Fitzgerald said a bill to transpose an EU framework decision addressing intra-EU prisoner transfers into Irish law is presently being drafted and is expected to be published later this year.

One of the main effects of the framework decision is that it removes, in some well-defined circumstances, the requirement that a person must consent to the transfer.