Graham Dwyer murder appeal boosted by European Court ruling on data retention

It published a judgment this morning which will bolster Dwyer’s chances in a separate appeal against his conviction and could have far-reaching consequences for the investigation of serious crime across the continent.

The Luxembourg court said EU law precludes the general and indiscriminate retention of traffic and location data relating to electronic communications for the purposes of combating serious crime.

Ireland’s Supreme Court had intended on making a similar finding, upholding a 2018 High Court ruling in Dwyer’s favour.

The Supreme Court signalled it wanted to limit its ruling so that the finding would not have retrospective effect – which would have potentially stopped Dwyer from using the finding as a ground of appeal.

However, the CJEU said the Supreme Court could not impose “a temporal limitation on the effects of a declaration of invalidity of a national law that provides for such retention."

This means Dwyer will be able to use the High Court and Supreme Court rulings as a ground of appeal against his conviction for the murder of childcare worker Elaine O’Hara in 2012.

More to follow