A court sitting in Ballymena heard the 39-year-old had sought to argue he was entitled to have his hearing conducted in Irish
A Co Antrim man accused of speeding has failed to convince a judge to hear his case in Irish.
Antrim Magistrates Court, sitting in Ballymena on Tuesday, heard in his email correspondence, Sean Curran had asked for any letters sent to him to be translated into Irish.
The 39-year-old, from Red Row in Toome and who faces a charge of excess speed on December 2 last year, had also asked for the proceedings to be conducted in Irish.
During an exchange between Curran and District Judge Nigel Broderick, it emerged that the 39-year-old had sought to argue that he was entitled to have his hearing conducted in Irish.
Judge Broderick said that in his email to the court, Curran was relying on Articles Nine and Ten of the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages (ECRML) in support of his argument.
Those articles, said the judge, address the use of regional and minority languages in administrative and public services, including the right to use the language in court and the availability of translations.
While Curran conceded that “I have not prepared for this today, I thought we were just setting a date,” Judge Broderick told him, “my understanding about the charter is that it is an international treaty and has not been incorporated into UK or domestic law.”
“In short, my reading of the legislation is that there is no right to have the proceedings conducted in any language other than English, when the defendant can both read and speak in English,” he told Curran.
When a defendant can neither read nor speak nor understand English, then the court is obliged to provide an interpreter, said the judge, putting to Curran that “you clearly can.”
The defendant agreed that he had written to the PPS in English and that the hearing had been conducted in English.
Adjourning the case to September 8, Judge Broderick told Curran: “At the moment, based on the fact that you can read and speak in English, I’m not minded to appoint an interpreter.”
“I do not consider it a good use of public funds,” the judge ruled, advising Curran to bring his driving licence with him for the next occasion.
#Judge #declines #hear #Antrim #mans #speeding #case #Irish
