Brian Doolan and Liam Brien have been refused leave to appeal to the Supreme Court over the lawfulness of their detention in Midlands Prison. The Supreme Court delivered its determination on 29 July 2016.
Both men are serving sentences for serious crimes of sexual violence after trials by jury. Mr Doolan was convicted in the Central Criminal Court on 5 March 2013 and received 12 years. Mr Brien was convicted in Galway Circuit Court on 26 February 2013 and received 8 years.
After an April 2013 Law Reform Commission report on jury service, each man issued a plenary summons claiming that the way jurors were chosen was unconstitutional. They sought bail pending those proceedings, and the High Court refused it on 26 August 2015.
They then asked the High Court to inquire into the lawfulness of their detention under Article 40 of the Constitution, which it rejected. The Court of Appeal ruled against them on 7 June 2016, and they applied to the Supreme Court in person.
The Supreme Court found the applications premature, because the constitutional action has not been heard and no evidence has been taken. It said that nothing suggested the interests of justice required a further appeal.
The State opposed leave. The court concluded: "The reality remains that each of them has been convicted in due course of law."