Any move by the Morris tribunal to compel two politicians to disclose their sources of information about alleged Garda corruption will be challenged by the Oireachtas in the High Court, it is understood.
The tribunal chairman, Mr Justice Morris, is expected to rule this week whether the Labour TD, Mr Brendan Howlin, and the Fine Gael senator, Mr Jim Higgins, should be compelled to disclose the source of the allegations.
Both have resisted moves to disclose their telephone records and the identity of their sources, and such a ruling would raise the prospect of an unprecedented legal confrontation between the Oireachtas and a tribunal, which it set up.
The politicians believe that the right of a public representative to receive information in confidence from constituents and members of the public is fundamental. But counsel for the tribunal has argued that while the Constitution incorporates enabling powers to protect the private papers of politicians, legislation to that effect had not been enacted.
With many in political circles expecting Mr Justice Morris to find against the politicians, it is expected that the Oireachtas committees of Procedure and Privilege will apply to the High Court for a judicial review of the decision.
While Mr Justice Morris said last Tuesday that he would make a determination within a week, it is thought that the tribunal will not sit today.
It is understood that the committees of Procedure and Privilege have not scheduled any meeting to coincide with the next hearing, but they are effectively on standby, awaiting the outcome of the ruling. The committees were represented at the hearing last Tuesday and political sources believe there would be cross-party support for any challenge to a ruling against the politicians.
The same sources also expect the tribunal to contest in the Supreme Court any High Court ruling against it.
Counsel for Mr Higgins has argued that both politicians had "behaved impeccably" and within their rights.
Mr Howlin and Mr Higgins were separately approached with information by past or present members of the Garda in 2000. They later relayed the information to the then minister for justice, Mr John O'Donoghue.
The tribunal is investigating claims about inquiries into cases including paramilitary bomb-making, arson and the treatment by certain gardaí of the McBrearty family in Co Donegal. It has insisted on being provided with the identity of sources so that the allegations can be followed up.
