Eamon Gilmore
Question:74 Mr. Gilmore asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the progress, if any, made in regard to the establishment of a drugs court pilot project; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11544/99]
Written Answers. - Drug Courts System.
The House will be aware that the 1997 programme for Government listed as one of its key priorities, in the measures to combat the drugs problem, the creation of a drug courts system which would involve count supervised treatment programmes for less serious drug related offences. In accordance with this commitment, I requested the Working Group on a Courts Commission, chaired by the Honourable Mrs. Justice Susan Denham, to consider the establishment of a drug courts system in Ireland.
On 25 September 1998, I announced that the Government had approved the publication of the fifth report of the working group on a courts commission – Drug Courts – which sets out details and experiences of drug courts in the USA and other European jurisdictions. I also announced that I had secured Government approval for the establishment of a drug courts planning commit tee to prepare plans for the establishment of a drug courts pilot project in the District Court.
The development of a drug courts system on a pilot basis marks a major policy initiative in the criminal justice system and is designed as an alternative measure for dealing with the less serious and non-violent drug offenders. It is the beginning of a fundamental realignment of the response of the criminal justice system to those involved in less serious drug related offences. In effect, drug courts afford persons in trouble with the law on foot of having committed minor to non-violent drug-related offences an opportunity to be treated under courts supervision as an alternative to the more usual penal sanctions which can be proposed. I look forward to assessing the results of the pilot project in due course and if the US experience – which shows that criminal activity for drug related crimes decreases or is eliminated as a result of treatment – is repeated here, I believe that this initiative is likely to have a profound effect over time on how we as a society deal with less serious drug-related crime.
In February 1999 I established the Drug Court Planning Committee under the chairmanship of Judge Desmond Hogan. The remit of the committee is to initiate, develop and oversee a drug courts planning programme with clearly defined goals and objectives. They will assess the resource and infrastructural requirements of the programme setting out the likely costs and potential savings. Once the necessary preparatory work has been done they will report to me so that the necessary steps can be taken to establish the pilot project. The committee has had several meetings and sub-comittees, set up to consider specific aspects of the programme, have provided written and oral reports to the main committee. The planning committee is working towards providing a report to me by mid-1999 with a view to establishing the pilot programme before the end of the year.