Mr Justice Peter Kelly today allowed for a permissive order to detain a troubled teenage boy who had come before him on Monday.
But the judge said he would take legal advice over whether the power of arrest should remain attached to the order.
When the boy came before him on Monday, Mr Justice Kelly had expressed concern as to whether, in the light of a Supreme Court judgment earlier that day, he was entitled to make a detention order.
The order agreed today was a permissive order rather than a detention order, permitting the detention of the boy rather than requiring his detention.
Mr Justice Kelly told the court the law was not as clear in these cases as a result of Monday’s ruling, and that questions had been raised over the power of the court to detain the boy.
Mr Justice Kelly said he was inclined to deny the power of arrest, but the father of the boy involved objected, citing the safety of his son as a reason for its retention. The power of arrest entitles gardaí to re-arrest the boy in the event of his escape from detention.
On Monday, the Supreme Court overturned, by a four to one majority, a High Court order directing the State to adhere to its own time-scales for the building of special-care and high-support units for children who are at risk.
The reversal of Mr Justice Kelly's order, and questioning by some of the five judges of a 1995 landmark judgment that has formed the basis for many actions taken on behalf of children, has now created doubt over the jurisdiction of the High Court to make detention orders for troubled children.