Lawyers for Sean Quinn Junior say it was legally wrong for the High Court to jail him for contempt in order to encourage his father to comply with orders secured by the Irish Bank Resolution Corporation (IBRC).
The businessman is at the Supreme Court with his wife Karen Woods having been let out of Mountjoy Prison to attend the 2-day hearing.
His lawyers say his punishment of 3 months imprisonment went way beyond the finding against him.
He was originally found to be in contempt of a court order from 2011 for directing or participating in US$500,000 golden handshake to an Ukrainian employee of the Quinns last year.
On appeal he is challenging this single finding against him but his legal team says even if he purges his contempt on this matter he will none the less remain incarcerated.
That is because the High Court has found he can be held indefinitely until more recent coercive orders forcing him, his father Sean Quinn Senior and his cousin Peter Quinn to disclose details of their assets are addressed.
It is also contested that it was legally wrong of the High Court to jail Mr. Quinn Junior in a bid to encourage his father to co-operate with the former Anglo Irish Bank.
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