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This Commentary accompanies the "feminist judgment" on the so-called "Kerry Babies case" in "Northern/Irish Feminist Judgments: Judges' Troubles and the Gendered Politics of Identity" (Hart, 2017). The Commentary sets out briefly the social and factual context of the case and considers the feminist features of the related "judgment" by Dr Vicky Conway. It also examines the public outpouring of support for the woman at the centre of the case, Joanne Hayes, and her experience before the Tribunal of Inquiry, placing this in the context of female credibility in courtroom proceedings.

"Police procedures and practices in the investigation of crime are shaped by many things. One particularly important constituent part of the development of investigative procedures and practices is the approach of the courts to the admissibility at trial of evidence obtained in a certain manner. While a judge can only address the specifics of whatever cases are brought before him, the judiciary as a whole have a significant role to play in terms of police accountability and governance through their development and application of any exclusionary rules of criminal evidence. This article examines the judicial oversight of policing by way of the exclusion of improperly obtained evidence at trial. Its central focus is on the development and operation of the exclusionary rule in Ireland, though relevant law in other jurisdictions, including England and Wales, the United States, Canada and New Zealand, is also considered. Particular attention is paid to the recent Irish Supreme Court decision of DPP v Cash, and its ramifications for judicial oversight of policing." [author's abstract]

The manner in which criminal suspects are brought to trial has changed considerably in the past forty years in the criminal justice processes of both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. While the 'normalisation' of emergency measures has played a considerable role in altering the nature and shape of these processes, other factors have also been influential: for example, rights-protection under the European Convention on Human Rights in both jurisdictions and under the Constitution in the Republic; political reaction to perceived domestic crises; and the emergence of new voices, such as those of victims, within the criminal justice sphere.