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Carlow-Kilkenny), |
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Minister of State at the Department of Justice), |
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It is proposed the Committee should sit until 4.30 p.m. Is that agreed? Agreed. It is also proposed to sit again tomorrow from 11.15 a.m. until 5.30 p.m. with a break for lunch from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m. Is that agreed? Agreed.
Criminal Procedure Bill, 1993: Committee Stage.
The purpose of this Bill is to provide remedies in cases where it is alleged a miscarriage of justice has occurred and existing appeal procedures have been exhausted so that the aggrieved person cannot resort to the courts for relief even where there is irrefutable new evidence. The Bill proceeds on the basis that the best way to deal with alleged miscarriages of justice is by appeal to a court and that, where a court cannot deal with such miscarriages or it would not be appropriate to return to the court, resort should be had to the alternative procedure of petitioning the Minister for Justice.
For the first time there will be a statutory right to compensation where the miscarriage of justice is found to have occurred on the basis of newly discovered evidence. That provision will comply with the requirements for such a statutory right contained in Article 14 of the International Convenant on Civil and Political Rights, to which Ireland is a party, and will enable the Government to withdraw its reservation to Article 14 which has up to now been necessary because of our system of ex gratia compensation.
The most important provisions of the Bill are in sections 2 and 7. Section 2 provides for a second or subsequent application to the Court of Criminal Appeal where it is alleged that a new or newly discovered fact shows there has been a miscarriage of justice in relation to the conviction or that the sentence is excessive. Heretofore a person has had one chance to appeal based on the appeal provisions currently in existence. If the appeal was lost there was no further recourse to the courts; no matter what facts he or she was able to produce later that cast a genuine and substantial doubt on the conviction, a further referral to the courts was not possible.
The scope of an application to the court is not being restricted to an allegation of a miscarriage of justice in relation to the conviction. Under section 2 an application may also be made to review a sentence on the basis of a new or newly discovered fact while not contesting the conviction itself.
Section 7 provides a procedure whereby a convicted person who alleges that a new or newly discovered fact shows a miscarriage of justice has occurred can petition the Minister for Justice with a view to the Government advising the President to grant a pardon under Article 13.6 of the Constitution. There are two circumstances in which a person can avail of this procedure: first, where a person who might otherwise return to the Court of Criminal Appeal under the new procedures introduced in this Bill finds his or her fresh evidence is inadmissable in a court of law or where the case is otherwise unsuitable for referral back to the Court of Criminal Appeal; and second, where persons have been convicted and sentenced in the District Court. It would not be practical to enable such pesons to return to the relevant court of appeal, the Circuit Court, as no record is kept of proceedings in the District Court and appeals are by way of a complete rehearing.
The Minister for Justice will have several options of receipt of a petition for a presidential pardon after making the necessary inquiries. The first is to inform the petitioner the matters dealt with in the petition could appropriately be dealt with by means of an application to the Court of Criminal Appeal. Second, the petitioner could be informed no case has been made that a miscarriage of justice has occurred. The third is to recommend to the Government it should advise the President to grant a pardon in respect of the relevant offence. The fourth is to recommend to the Government that it should appoint a committee to inquire into the case. Section 8 provides for the establishment of such a committee which will have all the powers applicable to a tribunal under the Tribunals of Inquiry (Evidence) Acts, 1921 and 1979.
Those are the main provisions of the Bill. There are other significant provisions, such as section 10, concerning uncorroborated confessions. These can all be discussed in detail in what I am sure will be a worthwhile and fruitful debate. Prior to consideration of the Committee Stage of this Bill, it should be noted that in addition to the Minister the following Deputies have tabled amendments: Deputies Gilmore, Gay Mitchell and O'Donnell.
