"The question before the Court, therefore,
is whether the Attorney General's decision to issue the Notice
of November 24, and for that matter any similar Notice under the
statute, is open to judicial review by the Court and, if so, to
what extent. The representors say that the Court has the power
to examine all the circumstances of the Notice, including its
merits, which of course, would include the facts giving rise to
the issue of the Notice. The Attorney General has accepted that
the Court has a power but only to a very limited extent i.e. it
may examine whether the powers of the Attorney General exist to
make a decision, the extent of those powers and whether or not
the powers have been exercised in the appropriate form.
Beyond that, the Attorney General says
that because the legislature has made no provision in the statute
for an appeal, there are no other means by which the Court can
or should judicially review the exercise of the Attorney General's
discretion in a matter arising out of a criminal investigation.
The present criminal investigation is
in the Republic of Ireland and is being carried out under the
aegis of the Director of Public Prosecutions of that country".