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The Green Party has condemned the move
by the Minister for Justice Michael McDowell to rush the Criminal
Justice Bill 2007 through the Dáil in a matter of days.
Green Party Justice spokesperson
Ciarán Cuffe TD said: "This is another example of the Minister
steam-rolling a complicated and controversial legislative package
through the houses of the Oireachtas without allowing adequate time
for debate.
"The Criminal Justice Bill is an
extremely complex and lengthy piece of legislation, with
far-reaching consequences if passed. The Bill is over 130 pages long
and requires a considerable amount of time for adequate scrutiny of
all the provisions. The Minister is proposing to alter some of the
most fundamental tenants of our criminal justice system such as the
presumption of innocence, the right to silence and a curtailment of
the discretion of the judiciary in sentencing.
"The Criminal Justice Act, 2006 was
only brought into law in July 2006. This Act represented a major
overhaul of the Irish criminal justice system including areas such
as the investigation of offences, the admissibility of statements,
appeals, firearms offences, explosives offences and organised crime
to name but a few. It is far too early to assess whether or not this
legislation has been effective or not.
"The timing of this Bill is highly
suspect. The Minister has had years to introduce such legislation
yet he waits until the final weeks before the general election. This
is nothing more than a last ditch effort on Minister McDowell's part
to convince the general public that he can bring crime in Ireland
under control." |
