Journalists John Waters and Gemma O’Doherty have started a High Court action challenging laws introduced by the State in response to the coronavirus pandemic. In judicial review proceedings against the State and the Minister for Health, Mr Waters and Ms O’Doherty are seeking to have various pieces of recently enacted legislation declared null and void by a judge of the High Court. Ms O’Doherty and Mr Waters represented themselves in court on Wednesday as they applied for permission to bring their challenge. Mr Waters told the court that the legislation was “unconstitutional”, “improperly enacted” and “very flawed”. The journalists told the court that they had concerns about the powers the new laws gave to gardaí and the effect that the laws, the lockdown and travel restrictions are having on people.

Source: The Irish Times April 15, 2020 16:18 UTC