Lawyers for Mr Charles Haughey and named members of his family are expected to make the first moves in the High Court today in a constitutional challenge to the right of the Moriarty tribunal to inquire into their affairs.
Mr Haughey's lawyers are likely to move a preliminary motion for discovery of Cabinet documents relating to the setting up of the tribunal. The application will seek to compel the Government to supply such confidential documents.
This could delay the start of the hearing of the substantive constitutional case as the application would have to be decided first. Mr Haughey and his family are not required to attend court, particularly for any preliminary applications which would be based on sworn affidavits.
The parties may also apply for a date for the main case to be heard. Even if the High Court could accede to an application for an urgent hearing of the main matter by adjourning other listed cases, the complex arguments involved in such a constitutional challenge suggest a hearing which would take a week at the very least.
When the case is finally heard and judgment given, it is generally accepted that whatever the outcome, it will be appealed to the Supreme Court. However, in urgent cases the courts have been known to move quickly. A challenge by Mr Larry Goodman to the beef tribunal went through the High Court and Supreme Court in less than a month.
Mr Haughey, his wife, Maureen, his daughter, Eimear, and sisters Ethna and Maureen, are taking the challenge against the chairman of the tribunal, Mr Justice Moriarty, Ireland, the Attorney General and the clerks of the Dail and Seanad.
Mr Haughey and the named family members are claiming that the Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Act 1921 as amended, under which the Moriarty tribunal was established, is in breach of certain provisions of the Constitution. These include the rights to equality before the law and the duty of the State to vindicate the right of citizens to their good name, to protect property rights and the right to privacy.
The proceedings were initiated on December 18th by Ivor Fitzpatrick & Co, solicitors, on behalf of Mr Haughey and the named family members. Papers were served on the State. In the statement of claim, they are also seeking a declaration that the Dail and Seanad acted unconstitutionally in directing that the Taoiseach establish the tribunal last September and that the order establishing it was ultra vires, outside the powers, of the Oireachtas.
They are also seeking a declaration that neither the Dail nor the Seanad was properly convened when voting to establish the tribunal and an injunction restraining Mr Justice Moriarty from inquiring into their affairs. The claim also challenges the conduct of certain proceedings in private.