Gardaí not entitled to detain suspected drug drivers for an hour, court rules

The judge's decision arrived in the case of a driver who was stopped at a roadside checkpoint for a drug test and told he was required to remain there for up to an hour.

Gardaí are not entitled to detain a driver at the roadside for up to an hour to await the result of a drug test, the High Court ruled.

Mr Justice Garrett Simons said the relevant section of the Road Traffic Act governing the taking of drug test specimens only allows a garda to rely on the result of a roadside test to require a person, who has already been arrested, to permit the taking of a blood specimen at a garda station.