Garda informant may use ‘sensitive material’ in extradition case

A Garda informant may use sensitive material obtained in proceedings pending before the High Court in a separate legal battle to prevent his extradition from the UK to France, a judge has ruled.

The man says he was a Covert Human Intelligence Source (CHIS) for gardaí when he was arrested in France 17 years ago on drug trafficking offences.

The French courts later imposed, in his absence, a four year jail sentence. He never served that, was subsequently detained in England on foot of a European Arrest Warrant (EAW) issued by the French authorities and the extradition proceedings are due before an English court later this year.

He applied to the High Court in Dublin to be allowed use documents obtained by him from the garda and State for his pending action over the State’s alleged failure to protect him after he was arrested in France.

The documents, which he claims will help in his effort to defeat the extradition request, were obtained in 2016 from parties including the Garda commissioner following a ruling by Ms Justice Marie Baker

Following his arrest in the UK, the man asked Ms Justice Baker to allow him to modify his undertaking concerning the use of the documents so that his lawyers could send relevant documents to the court hearing his extradition case in England.

Absence of control

The State opposed the application, arguing there would be an absence of control over use of the documents and that the application was premature.

Granting the application, Ms Justice Baker found special circumstances exist to justify the modification, which was also necessary in the interests of justice.

She disagreed that the man’s application was either unnecessary or premature and was also satisfied the English court would afford sufficient protection for the confidential and sensitive nature of the documents.

In his claim against the commissioner, Ireland and the Attorney General, yet to be heard by the High Court, the man seeks damages for alleged negligence breach of duty, breach of contract and misrepresentations.

He claims he entered in the late 1990s into an agreement with gardaí to act as an informant on suspected drug traffickers. The agreement, he claims, provided gardaí would take all steps to maintain his safety, keep his identity confidential and protect him from criminal prosecution in Ireland or abroad.

Following his arrest in France, gardaí failed to intervene to ensure his safety from prosecution there, he claims.

In opposing the proceedings, the State, while accepting it paid him for information, denies it agreed to protect him from prosecution if he was arrested in another jurisdiction.