The Court of Appeal has ruled that legislation prohibiting the sale of psychoactive substances is unconstitutional.
The three-judge Court unanimously found Section 2(2) of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977 violates Article 15.2.1 resulting in the secondary legislation the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977 (Controlled Drugs) (Declaration) Order 2011 (S.I. No. 551 of 2011), invalid.
Mr. Justice Gerard Hogan found Section 2(2) of the 1977 Act unconstitutional because the section proclaims to give law making powers to the government that, in the absence of appropriate principles and policies, are vest exclusively in the Oireachtas:
The fundamental difficulty here is that the 1977 Act determined that only "certain" dangerous or harmful drugs would be controlled, thus leaving important policy judgments to be made by the Government rather than by the Oireachtas.
The case concerned the prosecution of Stanislav Bederev, who was charged on April 26th, 2012, for possession for sale of Methylethcathinone. Mr. Bederev brought a High Court challenge seeking to halt criminal proceedings on the grounds that section 2(2) of the 1977 Act was unconstitutional, thus invalidating the 2011 Order.
In May 2014, Mr. Justice Paul Gilligan found the legislation was directed at drugs that would have a negative and detrimental effect on individual health and society.
Comment: Despite what was reported in the media in the 24 hours after the judgment, the Court of Appeal did not accidentally legalise hard drugs.
Comment: Despite what was reported in the media in the 24 hours after the judgment, the Court of Appeal did not accidentally legalise hard drugs.
