Vol. 566 No. 1
626 Mr. Dennehy asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he has satisfied himself that the provisions of the 1996 constitutional amendment on restricting access to bail for accused persons are adequate to prevent such persons committing serious crimes; and if he will make a statement on the operation of the bail laws. [11657/03]
The Bail Act 1997 which was passed into law by the Oireachtas in May 1997 gave effect to the terms of the Sixteenth Amendment of the Constitution. Section 2(1) of the Act provides that where an application for bail is made by a person charged with a serious offence, a court may refuse the application if it is satisfied that such refusal is reasonably considered necessary to prevent the commission of a serious offence by that person. For this purpose a serious offence is defined as one which carries a penalty of at least five years imprisonment on conviction and which is listed in the Schedule to the Bill (e.g. murder, manslaughter, sexual offences, drugs offences). The decision to grant or refuse bail in any particular case is a matter for the courts which are, subject only to the Constitution and the law, independent in the exercise of their judicial functions. The position regarding the adequacy of the bail provision is kept under continuing review.
