The judge hearing the High Court inquiry into the lawfulness of the detention of Simeon Burke has accused his sister Ammi Burke of “haranguing” him and wasting the court’s time with “ludicrous submissions”.
r Justice Brian Cregan today described the conduct of Ms Burke, who is a solicitor, as “unacceptable”.
“I have to say in 30 years in this business I have never seen a solicitor conducting themselves in the way you are conducting yourself,” he said.
He made the comments after the progress of the inquiry was delayed for several hours today when Ms Burke raised objections to the manner in which the first day of the hearing was conducted yesterday.
She claimed the judge had “misdirected” her brother into opening the application when, she claims, lawyers for the Chief State Solicitor’s Office should have presented their side first.
Ms Burke cited a High Court ruling in support of her position and claimed her brother had been disadvantaged.
After rising to consider her objection, the judge gave a ruling in which he rejected her concerns and described her submissions as “misguided”.
However, Ms Burke refused to accept his ruling and argued at length with the judge, repeatedly making many of the same points Mr Justice Cregan had already rejected.
The judge directed her on a number of occasions to sit down, saying she was wasting the court’s time and that he wanted to move on with the inquiry.
“As a solicitor you are an officer of the court and must respect the rulings of the court whether you agree with them or not,” Mr Justice Cregan said, adding that she was “coming close” to simply “barracking” and “lecturing” him.
“This is absolutely remarkable conduct by a solicitor and unprecedented,” he said
At one point, after Ms Burke again repeated her dismissed argument, the clearly exasperated judge said: “You are wasting my time now with these ludicrous submissions. Do you not understand what I am saying Ms Burke? Please sit down.”
The judge continued: “This constant haranguing of the court is very wearisome. You are just constantly repeating the same point again and again.”
When the judge sought to move on, asking Simeon Burke whether he wished to cross examine gardaí, the barrister-at-law student refused to answer the question, and instead sought to restate an argument already made by his sister.
The court had been due to watch CCTV footage this morning of the incident leading up to Mr Burke’s arrest on March 7.
Mr Burke was detained and charged with a public order offence after he other members of the Burke family were physically removed from the Court of Appeal.
He has remained in Cloverhill ever since, having refused to take up bail, and his trial for engaging in threatening, insulting and abusive words is due to get underway in the District Court on Monday.
The removal of six members of the Burke family from the Court of Appeal came after they repeatedly interrupted the delivery of a judgment in the dispute between Wilson’s Hospital School and schoolteacher Enoch Burke, a brother of Simeon.
However, before CCTV of the incident could be played to the judge today, Ammi Burke raised her objection to the manner in which the proceedings were conducted yesterday.
During the hearing yesterday, Simeon Burke had presented his application and Seamus Clarke SC, for the Chief State Solicitor’s Office (CSSO), responded.
Ms Burke claimed that because the onus of proof of lawful detention lies with the State, it should have gone first.
She claimed that Mr Burke was “misdirected” by the judge, that the inquiry into the lawfulness of his detention was not conducted in accordance with law, and that it was “a serious matter” as it was “of critical importance who goes first”.
Ms Burke also alleged that her brother had been “subjected to interrogation” by Mr Justice Cregan for two-and-a-half hours while few questions had been asked of the other side.
Mr Clarke took issue with her submission, saying that while it was correct the burden of evidence was on his side, the proceedings had been conducted in the normal way.
The barrister said the court had “behaved quite appropriately”.
“These proceedings have been conducted in the normal way habeas corpus proceedings are,” said Mr Clarke.
Counsel also said the proceedings were “not a competition as to who gets asked the most questions”. He said keeping score on the number of questions each side was asked was not an efficient way to run a court.
Mr Justice Cregan rejected Ms Burke’s argument.
“I think that submission is misconceived,” he said.
The judge said it was “for Mr Burke to open the application in the normal way, in the same way that the plaintiff goes first in every single application before the court”.
He said: “At all times the onus is on the State to justify detention. But that doesn’t mean it goes first.”
Mr Justice Cregan also queried why Ms Burke was raising the point now, on the second day of the hearing, rather than raising it at the start.
Ms Burke replied that she only became aware of the issue overnight.
The judge also said Ms Burke’s claim that her brother was “interrogated” was not well founded and he dismissed her complaint about the number of questions asked.
“If I asked the State less questions, it was because I had less questions to ask and no other reason,” Mr Justice Cregan said.
“I do not believe the applicant has been disadvantaged in any way by this procedure.”
Ms Burke refused to accept the ruling, arguing with the judge about it for around an hour.
The case was adjourned for lunch, after which the judge said he expected to view the CCTV.
Central to Mr Burke application are claims there was a flaw on the face of his committal warrant as the garda recorded as arresting him did not do so.
He also alleges the proper formalities of an arrest were not complied with. He claims he was not told he was being arrested, the reason for the arrest or the power of arrest.
These claims have been rejected by the CSSO.
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'I have never seen a solicitor conducting themselves like this' - Judge criticises Ammi Burke for 'unacceptable behaviour' - Independent.ie
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