A High Court judge ruled this afternoon publication by some media organisations of material relating to a road crash in Dublin which claimed the lives of a taxi driver and a youth was not punishable as a contempt of court if it was published before two youths were charged in relation to the fatal collision.
Mr Justice Kelly adjourned the proceedings against the media organisations to next week.
The Director of Public Prosecutions brought proceedings against a number of newspapers and RTE over reports relating to the road crash.
The proceedings are against Independent Newspapers Ltd and its managing editor, Mr Michael Roche over articles in the Evening Heraldand Irish Independentnewspapers of January 13th; Sunday Newspapers Ltd and Sunday Worldeditor, Mr Colm McGinty, over articles published on January 12th; and Independent Star Ltd and Irish Daily Stareditor, Mr Gerard Colleran, over articles on January 13th.
The DPP's proceedings are also against RTE and Alice O'Sullivan, producer of RTE's Gerry Ryan Show, over an interview between Mr Ryan and RTE crime correspondent, Paul Reynolds which was also broadcast on January 13th.
Mr Justice Kelly said it seemed to him that as an issue had arisen in the course of the conduct, in effect, of a criminal trial, then it was appropriate for him to give his conclusion on that preliminary issue.
If the material about which the DPP complained was published prior to the time of the charging of the two youths - which was 10.30am on January 13th - it was not punishable as a contempt of court, the judge ruled.
He added that the future conduct of the proceedings next Tuesday depended on the decision he had given and he would give a detailed judgment on his conclusions at a later date.