This is a short Bill which will extend the time provided in the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act, 1851, for the issue by justices of the District Court of warrants committing persons to prison who fail to pay fines or perform conditions ordered by the District Court.
Orders of the District Court imposing a fine or a condition will usually provide for imprisonment in the event of failure to comply with a court order. In such a case it is necessary for the court to issue a warrant, for execution by the Garda, committing a person in default to prison.
Under the provisions of the Petty Sessions (Ireland) Act 1851, warrants for imprisonment for the non-payment of fines or for the non-performance of conditions must be issued directly on the expiration of the time for payment of a fine or performance of a condition ordered by the District Court or, at the latest, on the next court day. Due to the strict limits set in the 1851 Act it is impossible to issue warrants in the normal course in the time specified.
The District Court Rules have accordingly provided since 1948 that warrants may be issued at any time after default of payment or after a justice of the District Court is satisfied that a condition has not been performed. This rule has been generally followed in practice and it replaced a rule on similar lines which was made in 1926. The practice is, therefore, of long standing and has not been challenged.
Despite the fact that, under the Courts of Justice Act, 1924, the District Court Rules Committee established by the 1924 Act are empowered in carrying out their functions to make rules for the adaptation or modification of any statute that may be necessary, doubts have recently been expressed over the question of whether or not it was within the power of the Rules Committee to provide for a time for the issue of warrants different from that provided by the statute.
The position is unsatisfactory and the Bill proposes to deal with it by extending the time prescribed in the 1851 Act to allow a realistic period — six months — during which warrants may be issued. When the Bill is enacted the District Court Rules Committee will be asked to bring the rules into conformity with the provisions of the Bill so that similar doubts will not arise in the future in this area.
Section 1 (1) (a) of the Bill provides that a warrant of committal to prison may be issued not later than six months from the expiration of the time fixed by a court order for the payment of a fine or the performance of a condition. Accordingly, this provision will apply in the case of an order made by a justice of the District Court after the Bill is passed.
It will also apply to orders made before the passing of the Bill where the time for complying with an order expires after the Bill is passed. I am satisfied that six months is a reasonable period of time to allow for issuing warrants and that it will be possible for the District Court to operate within this time limit in the future.
Section 1 (1) (b) provides that a warrant may be issued not later than six months after the Bill is passed, where the time for payment or performance expired on or after 1 July 1989 and the day before the Bill is passed. This provision is necessary in order to ensure that existing orders of the District Court are complied with. It is also necessary to avoid financial loss to the Exchequer which would otherwise occur if a doubt existed as to whether warrants could be executed.
While, on one view, there may be a doubt under the present law as to whether warrants can now issue in respect of fines which fell due for payment in this period, there is of course no doubt but that these fines are legally payable on foot of proper District Court orders. The date, 1 July 1989, will catch virtually all outstanding fines so that it is not strictly necessary to go back further than that and it might appear unreasonable to go too far back.
In summary, the Bill provides a reasonable time for the issue of warrants in future and it also removes any doubts about the powers of the District Court to ensure enforcement of its orders.
I commend this important Bill to the House.
