John F Martin & Company Solicitors

09/09/2019

https://www.thejournal.ie/compensation-culture-ireland-part-one-4737557-Sep2019/

Personal injury awards have been dropping despite claims that out-of-control claims are feeding prices.

05/01/2018

One of our cases made this review of 2017.

What a year it’s been.

06/11/2017

Jury decisions can be quite a mystery to everyone. Quite often the public are astonished as to how some juries will acquit an accused person.

What one must remember is that if a juror is carrying out their duties properly, they will only see a fraction of the evidence that may be reported in a paper. Much of a criminal trial may take place in what is known as voir dire, or in absence of a jury. Arguments such as the admissibility of certain evidence take place in this manner.

Secrecy of the jury is an important aspect of our legal system. Jurors must be able to discuss with confidence all aspects of a case without fear of critique or reprisal. However, a large unexplained gap between the public perception of a trial and a decision in a trial can open up the justice system for criticism, whether that criticism be fair or not.

Personally, I would be in favour of anonymous academic research being carried out. This has been successfully carried out in other jurisdictions by academics such as Professor Cheryl Thomas of University College London.

Justice has to be seen to be done. But also, sometimes, in very limited circumstances, the interests of justice require a decision to be made in secret, as is the case with juries. Academic research is a safe, neutral way of making sure that these private decisions allow difficult deliberations take place as justice requires, whilst also preserving public confidence in the system.

No real research can be done on jury system, leaving us dangerously ignorant of problems

06/10/2017

Delighted to see the success of NUI Galway, or UCG as it was in my day.

NUI Galway has been named 'University of the Year 2018' in the Sunday Times University Guide, securing the prestigious accolade for a third time, having won the inaugural title in 2002 and again in 2009.

02/10/2017

An interesting piece on forensic science in the Courts. Even though this video describes the problem in a criminal law setting, it applies equally in civil proceedings.

Forensic science used in criminal trials can be surprisingly unscientific. Maybe a new television procedural could help change the public perception. Connect...

10/07/2017

A case which we brought to the High Court.

The High Court has ruled that a district court judge is not entitled to know the criminal record of an accused person before deciding whether they will face trial at district court or circuit court...

29/07/2016

Willie McAteer given 3.5-year term; Denis Casey two years, nine months; John Bowe two years

11/11/2015

The recent news that the conviction rate for drink driving convictions was about 40% left many practitioners scratching our heads. My experience, and that of my colleagues, is that the conviction rate is far higher. The vast majority of cases coming through the system result in a plea of guilty. Furthermore, not all of those that are contested result in an acquittal.

In my experience, most people enter a guilty plea because the members of An Garda Siochana have done their job correctly. As a practitioner, we look at the evidence, and if we do not see any holes in it, we will advise our clients accordingly.

Those that do get as far as hearing generally do so because we have spotted a flaw in the evidence. Then we run the case. That does not always guarantee success though; a judge might not side with you on an interpretation of the law, or the prosecuting garda might give perfect evidence.

So when we see headlines showing conviction rates of around 40%, we know that these are being written for a good headline or some political points scoring. The statistics were straight forward, and to represent them in any other way is purposely misleading.

One conversation that came about briefly with all of this is that Road Traffic Law should be consolidated. I think every practitioner would be in favour of this. Currently we work of many different legislative acts and amendments. Even for trained practitioners to trace the current law to find what it currently states can be quite trying. I do not know how a lay person could be expected to do that. However, we have heard talk of consolidating criminal legislation over the years, without any real end product, so, as much as I would like to see this development, I will not be holding my breath.

Commentary on 40% conviction rate ‘inaccurate’, according to courts service

22/09/2015

A very interesting case which will affect all breath sample cases currently before the Courts in relation to Drink Driving. We have seen legislation to cut off such loopholes enacted very quickly before (such as with Drugs legislation earlier this year), but it would seem to be too late for all current cases.

I do not subscribe to the view in the article that this will effectively end checkpoints for the moment - Gardai have powers in relation to the taking of other samples, and these can still be used effectively.

Decision on validity of data via Evidenzer Irl device casts doubt on cases before courts

10/09/2015

A mugger celebrated his 18th birthday by holding a knife to a student’s throat and threatening to carve his initials on his forehead once he had killed him.

05/09/2015

Please check out our new website which went live this evening. www.jfm.ie

02/06/2015

A disgruntled trainee mechanic who was owed a lot of money was caught throwing petrol into the cab of his former employer’s truck.