Gerry Hutch and Jonathan Dowdall to challenge non-jury Regency murder trials in Supreme Court

Earlier this year Mr Justice Anthony Barr in the High Court ruled their action aimed at preventing their trials proceeding before the SCC "must be refused."

In a written determination a three-judge Supreme Court panel held that the appeal had raised a matter of public importance which should be determined by the court.

The court also agreed that the exceptional circumstances exist to grant the two men a 'leap-frog' appeal, meaning that their action will be heard directly by the Supreme Court rather than the Court of Appeal.

The Supreme Court accepted that the appeals raise issues concerning the proper interpretation of the 1939 Offences Against the State Act, and if the Special Criminal Court is outside the legal authority of that Act.

No date has been fixed for the hearing of the appeals.

Hutch (58), who was extradited from Spain, and former Dublin City councillor Jonathan Dowdall (44), of Navan Road, Dublin, are both charged with the murder of David Byne (33) at the Whitehall, Dublin, hotel on February 5, 2016.