Finding out if a complaint has been made to the District Court

Laeot

Hi,

Is it possible to contact the district court directly to ask if a complaint has been made and a summons applied for by the Gardai?

The six month date is passing as we speak for an alleged offence and obviously I don't want to ring the Gardai to remind them as such?

Many thanks ��

coylemj

The District Court won't tell you - you could be a nosey neighbour digging for a bit of scandal. When two or three weeks have elapsed over the 6 months limit, ring the Garda and ask, it will be too late to apply for a summons at that stage if they haven't already done so.

Laeot

coylemj wrote: »

The District Court won't tell you - you could be a nosey neighbour digging for a bit of scandal. When two or three weeks have elapsed over the 6 months limit, ring the Garda and ask, it will be too late to apply for a summons at that stage if they haven't already done so.

Thanks for the answer my friend! I appreciate it.

Could a solicitor enquire on behalf of a client or would the same 'nosey neighbour' rule apply?

Laeot

Hi all

It is now 10 months since the alleged incident and I have heard absolutely nothing. Is this a normal amount of time to have heard zero news ?

Any legal eagles out there ???

Thanks guys

GerardKeating

Laeot wrote: »

Hi all

It is now 10 months since the alleged incident and I have heard absolutely nothing. Is this a normal amount of time to have heard zero news ?

Any legal eagles out there ???

Thanks guys

For certain minor offences, they have six month to apply for a summons, and a further six months to deliver it, at least that what I was told one, when I got one, but this was 25 years ago.

Laeot

GerardKeating wrote: »

For certain minor offences, they have six month to apply for a summons, and a further six months to deliver it, at least that what I was told one, when I got one, but this was 25 years ago.

Thanks Gerard

I know they have 6 months to apply for a summons, but even if they left it until just before the six months that would have been 4 months ago. So I'm wondering should I have heard by now I.e is there a chance of a 4 months waiting time between application and court date ..

Fred Swanson

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Laeot

Fred Swanson wrote: »

This post has been deleted.

Thanks Fred. I assumed when the Garda applied for the summons he would get a court date back from the court and couldn't hold onto it for as long as he wanted at his discretion because it has to be served 21 days by registered post or 7 days by personal delivery before the court date ??

Fred Swanson

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coylemj

OP, why don't you ask the Garda if he or she has applied for a summons? It's safe to do so at this stage as they cannot now apply for the summons if they haven't already done so. Make out that you're planning a long holiday and don't want to get a summons on the day you're leaving, for a court hearing two weeks down the line.

Laeot

coylemj wrote: »

OP, why don't you ask the Garda if he or she has applied for a summons? It's safe to do so at this stage as they cannot now apply for the summons if they haven't already done so. Make out that you're planning a long holiday and don't want to get a summons on the day you're leaving, for a court hearing two weeks down the line.

I thought long and hard about this but haven't had the balls to do it yet !

lifeandtimes

Laeot wrote: »

I thought long and hard about this but haven't had the balls to do it yet !

It's your only option at this stage

If you don't you are prolonging the inevitable

You can call and find out if it's coming,you'll be told yes or no. If yes you have time to prepare solicitor wise,if no then you've nothing to worry about.

If you don't you'll just drive yourself crazy and keep the thinking about it as is evident by you coming back to this thread months later

Laeot

lifeandtimes wrote: »

It's your only option at this stage

If you don't you are prolonging the inevitable

You can call and find out if it's coming,you'll be told yes or no. If yes you have time to prepare solicitor wise,if no then you've nothing to worry about.

If you don't you'll just drive yourself crazy and keep the thinking about it as is evident by you coming back to this thread months later

Thanks for the response ..
A solicitor friend of a friend told me not to go looking for trouble as the I could kickstart the Garda and he could come up with some excuse for the late application .. I'm in limbo. 😐
Thanks again.

...And Justice

Laeot wrote: »

Thanks for the response ..
A solicitor friend of a friend told me not to go looking for trouble as the I could kickstart the Garda and he could come up with some excuse for the late application .. I'm in limbo. ðŸ˜
Thanks again.

I know someone, who was in your position OP, he waited for a full year before he had the balls to ask questions about his summons, it was never applied for by the gardai.

Laeot

...And Justice wrote: »

I know someone, who was in your position OP, he waited for a full year before he had the balls to ask questions about his summons, it was never applied for by the gardai.

Thanks for replying ..
It's a dilemma alright. I'd hate to inadvertently kickstart proceedings ..

Fred Swanson

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lifeandtimes

Fred Swanson wrote: »

There is no way they can extend the period in which they need to apply for a summons.

What Fred said

GM228

Fred Swanson wrote: »

There is no way they can extend the period in which they need to apply for a summons.

But....

There could be a situation where a complaint was actually made within 6 months and for whatever reason the summons was not issued or was not served. A new summons can be requested in that case after 6 months because it's based on the original complaint date which was within the 6 month limit.

But yes if no initial complaint was made within 6 months then it can't be extended.

Pat Mustard

Laeot wrote: »

The six month date is passing as we speak for an alleged offence and obviously I don't want to ring the Gardai to remind them as such?

Have you made absolutely certain that the general six month time limit (for making complaints in relation to offences dealt with summarily) applies in relation to the offence in question?

Laeot

Pat Mustard wrote: »

Have you made absolutely certain that the general six month time limit (for making complaints in relation to offences dealt with summarily) applies in relation to the offence in question?

It's a summary offence in district court so it's six month..

Fred Swanson

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notsoyoungwan

Op, I was in your situation years ago. I got a solicitor to ask the court clerk after about 7 months, and the clerk confirmed no summons had been applied for. I'm not sure if the clerk gave that info to the solicitor in an official capacity or if it was a nod and wink scenario as they knew each other, but in any event it cleared it up for me. You could do that, or go to the court clerk yourself with ID perhaps?

Laeot

Thanks for all the help folks. I accept that due process will happen and will deal with what comes my way, but I do reckon it's a bit unfair to be able to hold someone to ransom with such long delays.

Thanks again

Pat Mustard

Laeot wrote: »

It's a summary offence in district court so it's six month..

Although this is true in respect of most summary offences, you have not mentioned the nature of the offence.

There are some summary offences which specify time limits which are longer than 6 months.