Former Garda boss: Dwyer ruling 'tilts the balance in favour of the criminal' 

The European Court of Justice ruled conclusively that the blanket retention of traffic data from people’s mobile phones, so that they can be accessed at a later date if police are investigating a crime, contravenes EU rights to privacy

Graham Dwyer's phones were accessed 'at the end of 2013', months before a key ECJ ruling which found that 2011 Irish retention legislation violated EU laws. File picture: Collins Courts

The film Minority Report has been referenced a couple of times in relation to Tuesday’s European court ruling.

In that sci-fi film, ‘pre-cogs’ — psychic people who can see the future — are able to predict crimes people will commit. Tom Cruise plays a police officer chasing down the “criminals” before they act.