I move amendment No. 5:
In page 5, before section 3, to insert the following new section:
"3.—(1) In any case under this Act, where the extent of the damage alleged exceeds £100, the accused person shall have the right, as shall the Director of Public Prosecutions, to elect for trial on indictment.
(2) In all other cases the matter shall be tried summarily in the District Court.
(3) The maximum penalty to be imposed on summary conviction shall be six months imprisonment, or a fine of £1,000, or both.".
The purpose of this amendment is to address the right of a person to elect for trial by jury when charged with an offence under the Act. I have to concede however, that I am not going the distance that the Law Reform Commission seek to go in their recommendations in this respect. In my amendment I propose that all persons charged with an offence that exceeds £100 or more should have the right, if so accused, to elect for trial by jury and that the Director of Public Prosecutions should also have the right to elect for such a trial. In subsection (2) I propose that in all other cases, that is where the amount of damage does not reach £100, the matter shall be tried summarily and that the maximum penalty to be provided for on summary conviction shall be six months imprisonment or a fine of £1,000, or both.
The Law Reform Commission propose that the right to elect for trial by jury should repose solely with the Director of Public Prosecutions and that is the way the Bill is drafted in this regard. There is a rule of construction, as I understand it, handed down by the present Chief Justice when he was President of the High Court that where an Act is silent as to the right to elect for trial by jury and where alternative penalties are provided — as under sections 3 and 4 of this Bill — the net effect of such a method of construction is that the right to elect for trial by jury reposes solely with the Director of Public Prosecutions. It is very important that we underline the significance of trial by jury, that we do not undermine it in any way and that we underline the importance we attribute to the right of an accused to be tried.
It can be said that trial by jury is a too greatly involved luxury to afford to persons awaiting trial. I recall some years ago being in the Supreme Court when a Supreme Court judge, who shall remain nameless, quizzed counsel for the prosecution whether it was true that a person charged with the larceny of any item regardless of its value had the right to elect for trial by jury in our jurisdiction. That was five or six years ago. To his amazement he was advised that, yes, indeed, a person has a right to trial by jury in respect of any item alleged to have been stolen by him or her, irrespective of its value. The point has to be made that it is often the case that where the item is of minute value it can have greater repercussions on the career, status or future of the individual charged, so that one cannot really measure these matters on a scale of value. Equally, when it comes to allegations in relation to malicious damage it is very difficult to say to someone whose career or future might hinge upon the conviction that he should not have the right to elect for trial by jury because the value of what was alleged to be involved was small compared to something far more serious, as the consequences need not necessarily have regard to the extent of the damage alleged to have been caused. Therefore, it is important that as far as possible we would ensure that accused persons have the right to trial by jury.
In the existing law a person who is charged with damage in excess of £50 has, until today, a right to elect for trial by jury. I propose that we acknowledge that there is the matter of inflation although it is invidious to trespass into this area but I suggest that a reasonable figure for the Oireachtas to agree on where we would cut off the right to trial by jury for an accused is at £100, and anything under that should be dealt with summarily in the District Court and all other matters should be tried on indictment at the election of either the accused person or the Director of Public Prosecutions. There are instances where a person charged with an offence involving over £100 might wish to have the matter dealt with summarily but the Director of Public Prosecutions having regard to the wider issues or the greater problems attached might well decide that the trial should be dealt with in a higher court where wider attention might be given to it, broader and more important issues of law might be decided or a more serious penalty might accrue should conviction follow.
For those reasons it is important that we address these issues fully. The Oireachtas should ensure as far as is practicable and reasonable in drafting legislation that a person be entitled to trial by jury for all offences. The formula of a cut-off figure of £100 is reasonable and I hope it is acceptable to the Minister.