There are two broad categories of criminal offences recognised in Ireland-summary offences and indictable offences.
(This is part of the criminal law in Ireland series of articles about how criminal offences are prosecuted in Ireland)
Summary offences
Summary offences are dealt with by the summary procedure in the District Court and are minor offences.
What are minor offences?
Minor offences are not defined in the Constitution or in the statute books but generally minor offences are offences which attract a penalty of 12 months imprisonment or less and a fine of £100 (€127) or less.
When summary offences are dealt with in the District Court there is not jury present so the sitting Judge decides the case on his/her own.
Generally the procedures leading up to the prosecution of a summary offence are relatively fast and informal although the case of DPP v Gary Doyle in 1994 has led to a procedure where the prosecution are obliged to let the defendant have the statements and other evidence that the prosecution will be relying on in the case when an indictable offence is being dealt with summarily.
The decision of the Supreme Court in DPP v Gary Doyle has meant the full disclosure of evidence and statements which will be relied upon to secure a conviction and has led to the “Gary Doyle order” being sought by defence solicitors from the District Court judge. These orders are generally made as a matter of course when an indictable offence is being prosecuted summarily in the District Court.
It is possible to have a summary offence tried on indictment and this will occur where it is one of a number of offences arising from the same set of circumstances and the other offences are being tried on indictment before a jury in a higher court.
Indictable offences
Indictable offences are offences that can be tried on indictment but some offences are so serious that they must be tried on indictment. Example of these offences include rape, manslaughter and murder.
There is another category of offences which are called “hybrid offences” and these offences can be tried summarily or on indictment on the choice of the Director of Public Prosecutions but must have the agreement of the District Court judge on this point.
As well as the serious offences mentioned above there is another category of offence which must be tried on indictment and these are called “scheduled offences”.
This schedule of offences is listed in the Criminal Justice Act 1951 but subsequent legislation has permitted the disposal of scheduled offences in the District court provided three conditions are met:
1) The offence could be considered a minor offence given the facts of the case
2) The accused is happy to be tried summarily in the District Court
3) The DPP is satisfied to have the matter tried summarily
Hybrid offences
There is a third category of offence in criminal law in Ireland-hybrid offences.
Hybrid offences are offences which can be tried either way, that is by summary procedure in the District Court or on indictment in the higher courts.
The choice of venue and how the offence is to be prosecuted is a matter for the DPP in the first instance but if he chooses to prosecute the crime in a summary procedure the District Court Judge must be satisfied that the offence is a minor one or he will refuse jurisdiction.
The matter will then be sent to a higher court for trial.
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