Vol. 463 No. 6
13 Mr. O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Justice the number of cases in 1995 in which a judge sitting in the Dublin Metropolitan District Court made an order discharging an accused person at the conclusion of a preliminary examination. [7188/96]
51 Mr. Power asked the Minister for Justice the number of cases in 1995 in which a judge sitting in the Dublin Metropolitan District Court made an order discharging an accused person at the conclusion of a preliminary examination. [7047/96]
I propose to take Questions Nos. 13 and 51 together.
Orders for the discharge of accused persons were made at the conclusion of preliminary examinations in seven cases by judges sitting in the Dublin Metropolitan District Court in 1995.
Will the Minister accept that, since the number of cases that have been discharged at preliminary examination stage is minuscule, this is a time wasting exercise which is delaying the bringing of serious criminals to justice and that in the minutiae of cases where there are discharges there should be a provision whereby the accused person would apply to the court of trial for the case to be discharged on the basis that there was no prima facie case against him?
I must revert to my comments earlier. This is a statistical question and as such I am precluded from allowing policy matters to be pursued.
May I ask a statistical supplementary question? Could the Minister indicate what percentage of preliminary examinations the seven cases in the Dublin Metropolitan District Court to which she refers represents? Would she not agree that if it is a tiny percentage, as appears to be the case, Deputy O'Donoghue's point is well made?
I can answer the statistical question. A total of 666 persons were returned for trial during the period following preliminary examinations.
