Brian Curtin- The State Of Enquiry.

national | rights, freedoms and repression | opinion/analysis

Sunday September 17, 2006 16:43

by Chris Murray - The Unmanageables

Possibility of Retirement on the Grounds of Ill-health Mooted.

The Sunday news this morning is reporting that Judge Brian Curtin, who was arrested as part
of operation amethyst- the sweep on Child pornography users may make use of an 'out'.

He will be allowed to retire in November on the Grounds of ill-health.

This means that the impeachment process will not continue.
This means that the Oireachtas committee which has been investigating
the case will be stopped.

The Judge never faced criminal charges due to a technicality, the date of his arrest
was wrongly entered into the books

He has thus far not faced a criminal trial which would have cleared up the burden
of proof on his innocence or guilt. He has thus far resisted with expensive lawyers the
Oireachtas investigation into his innocence or guilt.
The Impeachment process to remove him from the bench will be halted.

There has been no comment from either the judge or his legal team
on whether or no he will make use of the early retirement facility
and what effect this will have on the long running cases of investigation,
the impeachment process and have accrued thousands of euros in lawyers fees.

The lack of criminal investigation was due to a technicality, the arresting officer
wrongly dated the warrant /commital order.

'Operation amethyst' was a sweep wherin users of child-porn, a massive consumer industry ,
were traced through credit card use. laptops and computers were seized.
The burden of proof of guilt or innocence relied on the examination of the hard
drive. The issue of Curtin's innocence was never brought before the courts.

The judge, may of course waive his rights to use the early retirement, and to the 25, 000 euro
state annuity to prove his innocence as he was denied the right to do so in the courts due to
an erroneous misprint, 'human error'.