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Supreme Court dismisses appeal from the Court of Appeal, and affirms ruling in answer to a case stated that a a statutory statement by a member of An Garda Síochána in a drink driving prosecution had not been 'duly executed' where the statement had not been signed in the correct sequence, on the grounds that: (a) the matter had been decided by the Supreme Court in an earlier decision based on different legislation with identical wording, and that intervening case law did not change that authority; (b) the elements of the offence had to be clear in order to avoid 'doubtful penalisation'; and (c) the fact that the sequence of signatures was incorrect rendered the statement inadmissible.
Supreme Court, drink driving prosecution, breathalyzer test statement, intoxilyser, admissibility of evidence, technical error, signature sequence, Director of Public Prosecutions v. Freeman, harmless irregularity, statutory certificate, Road Traffic Act 2010, authentication, precedent, statutory interpretation, overruled decision.
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