Supreme court judges silent on O’Leary remarks

SENIOR members of the judiciary were remaining silent yesterday on controversial remarks by a High Court judge who made an unprecedented criticism of the Supreme Court.

The late Mr Justice Seán O’Leary, who died last month, accused members of the country’s highest court of attempting “to curry favour with a potentially hostile media” last year in its ruling in the Mr A case.

It related to the Supreme Court’s controversial decision, last June, to order the rearrest of man, who had earlier been released from prison. He had been released following a High Court ruling about the constitutionality of a law that did not allow people accused of the statutory rape of minors to enter a defence that they believed the victim to be above the legal age of sexual consent.