The Supreme Court delivered a landmark judgment in the case of
DPP v JC [2015] IESC 31 where it articulated a new
exclusionary rule concerning unconstitutionally obtained evidence.
Prior to this decision, the old long-standing exclusionary rule
from the case of DPP v Kenny [1990] 2 1R 110 provided that
unconstitutionally obtained evidence must be excluded, regardless
of the degree of care exercised or the state of knowledge of those
involved, unless there were "extraordinary excusing
circumstances".
The case of DPP v JC related to the criminal trial of
Mr JC and the trial judge's decision to exclude incriminating
statements made by the accused as they had been unconstitutionally
obtained. The circumstances of unconstitutionality in that case
were that while the particular form of warrant used was valid at
the time of its execution, a subsequent legal decision declared the
section under which it had been obtained unconstitutional. The
incriminating statements were
