One of the seven people detained exclusively on foot of the statutory rape law which was declared unconstitutional by the Supreme Court earlier this week will apply to the High Court on Monday for his release.
At the High Court yesterday, Ms Justice Mary Laffoy granted an application on behalf of the 41-year-old man for an inquiry into the legality of his detention under Article 40 of the Constitution. The judge also ordered that, pending further order on Monday, the man may not be identified apart from the initial "A".
The court was told that in 2004 the man, who is in Arbour Hill Prison, was jailed for three years at the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court in 2004, after being convicted of unlawful carnal knowledge of an underage girl.
The application comes after last Tuesday's Supreme Court ruling which declared unconstitutional the 1935 law under which any man is automatically guilty of a crime if he has sex with a girl under 15.
The court made its decision on several grounds, including the failure to allow the defence that a genuine mistake had been made about a girl's age.
