Criminal Law Reform: Proposed Legislation

The Criminal Justice (Public Order) Bill 2010 aims to reform the laws on begging. The reform comes in the wake of the High Court’s judgement that the current law is unconstitutional. In the case of Niall Dillon vs the DPP, the High Court found that Section 3 of the Vagrancy (Ireland) Act 1947 was too vague and was incompatible with the Constitution’s provisions on freedom of expression and freedom to communicate. However, the court clearly stated that there was nothing in its decision that would prevent the Oireachtas from enacting new laws to control begging.

The Fines Bill 2009 provides for the updating and indexing of fines. It also provides for the payment of fines by instalment and ensures that a court will take a person’s financial circumstances into account before imposing a fine. The main provisions of the Bill are outlined in the Department press release Publication of Fines Bill 2007.

The Criminal Justice (Forensic Evidence and DNA Database System) Bill 2010 aims to provide a single, comprehensive statutory base for forensic testing in criminal cases. As recommended by the Law Reform Commission, it provides for the establishment of a DNA database that will be available as an intelligence tool to the Gardaí when investigating crime. The main purposes of the Bill are to:

• replace the existing statutory and common law arrangements governing the taking of samples for forensic testing from suspects for use as evidence in criminal investigations and proceedings with an updated statute-only regime,
• repeal the Criminal Justice (Forensic Evidence) Act 1990,
• provide for the establishment of a DNA database system for use by the Garda Síochána as an intelligence source for criminal investigations and also to assist in finding missing persons and unknown persons (whether seriously ill or injured persons who are unable to identify themselves or unidentified human remains),
• provide for the taking of samples for the purposes of the DNA Database System and other matters relating to the System,
• regulate the taking of samples from volunteers for the purpose of generating DNA profiles in respect of such persons in connection with the investigation of criminal offences or incidents that may involve the commission of criminal offences, and
• implement the DNA-related elements of the Council Decision 2008/615/JHA of 23 June 2008 on the stepping up of crossborder cooperation, particularly in combating terrorism and cross-border crime.

The Bill follows from the General Scheme of the Criminal Justice (Forensic Sampling and Evidence) Bill (the former name of the Bill) which was approved by Government in March 2007.

The Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Bill 2008 will provide for amendments to the Prevention of Corruption (Amendment) Act 2001 in order to strengthen the law on bribery of foreign public officials arising from the OECD recommendations following evaluation of Ireland’s compliance with the OECD Convention on Combating Bribery of Foreign Officials in International Business Transactions. The Bill will also deal with the combating of corruption in the private sector. The main provisions are outlined in the Department press release OECD Report on Bribery.

The Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Bill 2009 (Number 55 of 2009) will enable the provisions of the European Union Third Money Laundering Directive to have effect in Irish law.

The Criminal Procedure Bill 2009 provides for revised arrangements for making a victim impact statement.  The regime as provided for in Section 5 of the Criminal Justice Act 1993 will continue to apply but shall be amended in some significant respects.  The definition of victim is extended to include family members in cases where the actual victim of the offence has died or is incapacitated.  In cases where the victim is under 14 years of age or suffers from a mental disorder, a parent or guardian may deliver the statement.  A child or vulnerable victim may make a statement via a television link and the absence of a statement by a victim is not to be taken as meaning that there was little or no impact.  The Bill also provides for quashing acquittals and ordering retrials in certain circumstances.  These circumstances are when new and compelling evidence emerges after the acquittal, when the first trial was tainted by perjury or intimidation and where the trial judge in the original trial made an error on a point of law which resulted in the acquittal.

The Spent Convictions Bill seeks to establish a mechanism by which persons convicted of minor offences can have a possibility of non-disclosure of convictions for those offences. The Bill reflects the proposals in the Law Reform Commission’s 2007 Report on Spent Convictions and provides for non – disclosure regime where a qualifying conviction will remain on the records but there will be no obligation to disclose it in certain circumstances. However, the obligation to disclose a conviction will remain in the case of certain employments, e.g. child-care.  Although it was introduced in October 2007 as a Private Members Bill, the Government decided at the start of 2008 to adopt the Bill and it will now progress through the Oireachtas in Government time.

There should also be a link to the text of this Bill, which is not currently on our webpages (it was a private members bill so we did not publish it) a copy of the bill from the Oireachtas website is attached.    

It is proposed to introduce a Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill which will legislate for a variety of Criminal law matters which have arisen in light of the operation of certain statutes. The Bill will also make provision for International commitments to which Ireland is a party. Two significant elements in the Bill are that it proposes to amend and update Firearms legislation in this jurisdiction. It will also amend some provisions of the European Arrest Warrant Act 2003 in light of the operation of that statute since its enactment. In addition, the Bill will provide for a number technical amendments to certain Acts which have been identified as requiring attention.

Communications (Retention of Data) Bill 2009 (Number 52 of 2009)

Purpose of Bill: To transpose Directive 2006/24/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council on the retention of data generated or processed in connection with the provision of publicly available electronic communications services or of public communications networks and amending Directive 20025/58/EC.