Crime Prevention

Thursday, 24 February 2022

Questions (340)

Brendan Griffin

Question:

340. Deputy Brendan Griffin asked the Minister for Justice if she will publish a list of the provisions enacted under justice legislation since 1994 that have yet to be commenced in the area of serious crime prevention; and if she will make a statement on the matter. [10831/22]

View answer

Written answers

Minister for Justice

It has not been possible to collate the information requested by the Deputy in the time allowed. I will write to the Deputy to provide this information as soon as it is available.

The following was provided on 16 June 2022:

Act	Details	Reason for not having been commenced	When commencement order will be signed
Criminal Justice Act 2006	Sections 101(10), 101(12)(c), 102, 103(1)(d), 103(4)(d), 107, 111(a) and 112(a)	These are enabling provisions for the electronic monitoring of compliance with restriction of movement orders, to be used when such monitoring is to become operational. Work is underway within the Department of Justice to ascertain the most effective deployment of electronic monitoring, including looking at other jurisdictions where it was introduced, to see what lessons can be learned.	Commencement arrangements will be informed by the results of the ongoing work on the most effective deployment of electronic monitoring.
	Sections 11-13	Sections 11 to 13 relate to electronic monitoring of persons on bail, to be used when such monitoring is to become operational (section 11 was further amended by section 7 of the Criminal Justice Act 2017). Work is underway within the Department of Justice to ascertain the most effective deployment of electronic monitoring, including looking at other jurisdictions where it was introduced, to see what lessons can be learned. Amendments to sections 28(3) (b), (c) and (d) of the Criminal Procedure Act 1967 – not commenced.	Commencement arrangements will be informed by the results of the ongoing work on the most effective deployment of electronic monitoring.
	Section 19	Paragraphs (b) to (d) of section 19 provide for the transfer from the High Court to the Circuit Court of some bail applications. Currently, all applications (other than those reserved for the High Court, notably murder) are dealt with by the District Court, with the applicant (only) having a right of appeal to the High Court. The commencement of section 19 was deferred due to the strong reservations expressed by the Courts Service and the IPS about the added value of the proposed transfer of jurisdiction to the Circuit Court and the resource and logistical difficulties it would present.	Those reservations are accepted and it is proposed to commence paragraph (a) of section 19 only in order to provide the prosecution with a right of appeal
Criminal Justice Act 2007	Section 41	Section 41 provides for a new Garda Síochána Executive Management Board. Previously, this section was not commenced as separate arrangements were put in place in the form of the Policing Authority (established by the Garda Síochána (Policing Authority and Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2015). Further governance changes are now under consideration as part of the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill, which is currently undergoing pre legislative scrutiny.	It is intended that section 41 will be repealed as part of the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill.
	Sections 36 and 38	Sections 36/ 38 were intended to address distance selling of firearms under the Firearms Directive 2008/51/EC. However, the Directive has since been transposed by S.I. 493 of 2010 without the need to commence these sections.	Sections 36 and 38 will not be commenced and are to be repealed when a suitable legislative vehicle has been identified.
	Section 40 (insertion of new sections 9C to 9I to the Firearms and Offensive Weapons Act 1990)	Section 40 provided for new rules on import of realistic imitation firearms. The provisions are under review due to issues identified with how the rules would apply to import of such firearms for personal use.	Commencement arrangements for section 40 are currently on hold pending further consultation on how the rules concerned are to be applied.
	Section 48(c)(iiii)	The amendment to the Schedule of the Bail Act 1997 contained in section 48 cannot be commenced as it conflicts with a subsequent amendment made in the Criminal Justice (Amendment) Act 2009. This arose as both pieces of legislation passed through the Oireachtas at a similar time.	Section 48(c)(iii) will not be commenced. Addressing the conflict will require primary legislation.
Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Provisions) Act 2009	Sections 47 and 52	Sections 47 and 52 were repealed by the Criminal Justice Act 2011. The 2011 Act includes amendments essentially supersede the amendments made by the 2009 Act. However, the 2011 Act provisions including the repeal of section 47 and 52 of the 2009 Act, have not themselves been commenced.	Regulations are required to be made before commencement can take place. This is under consideration in the Department.
Criminal Justice Act 2011	Sections 5; 7(c); 9 (a), (c), (d), (e); 10; 11 and 12.	Regulations required to facilitate commencement of Section 7(c) are being drafted. Commencement of Sections 5, 10 and 11 is consequential on commencement of Section 7(c). Section 9(a) concerning the questioning of persons detained pending access to legal advice which are being re-examined in the context of the Garda Powers Bill. Commencement of Sections 9(c), (d) and (e) is consequential on commencement of Section 9(a). Section 12 will not be commenced as the Act which this section proposes to amend has been repealed by Section 6 of the Criminal Justice (Forensic Evidence and DNA Database System) Act 2014.	The Garda Síochána (Powers) Bill is currently in drafting. It is intended to publish that Bill in Q3 this year and a decision will be taken on commencement on those provisions at that point.
National Vetting Bureau (Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012	Section 20	Section 20, which relates to re-vetting, has not yet been commenced. An interdepartmental and interagency Garda Vetting Review Group established in 2021and led by the Department of Justice is currently considering recommendations on strengthening this vetting legislation including the matter of re-vetting provisions.	Commencement of re-vetting provisions will be informed by recommendations of the Review Group and the Minister and Government’s consideration of same.
Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017	Section 52	Section 52 of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017 provides for the offence of incest by females (contained in section 2 of the Punishment of Incest Act 1908) to be scheduled to the Criminal Procedure Act 2010. The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences)(Amendment) Act 2019 amended the penalty for the offence of incest by females to provide for the same penalty to apply to both women and men. Repeal of section 52 of the 2017 Act is now under consideration following the commencement of the 2019 Act.	The repeal of this section is currently under consideration.
Criminal Justice Act 2017	Sections 2, 4, 7, 11 and 12	The reason the Criminal Justice Act 2017 is not fully commenced is as follows: Sections 2, 4, 11 and 12 are technical amendments concerning the questioning of persons detained pending access to legal advice which are being re-examined in the context of the Garda Powers Bill and section 7 concerns electronic monitoring and cannot be commenced until implementation arrangements are in place.	The Garda Síochána (Powers) Bill is currently in drafting. It is intended to publish that Bill in Q3 this year and a decision will be taken on commencement on those provisions at that point. Section 7 will be commenced once all implementation arrangements are in place.
	Section 30(b)(ii)	All courts except District 18 of the District Court are commenced. Waiting confirmation that video link facilities in place.
Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Act 2017	Section 30(d)	Other than for the Central Criminal Court, the Dublin Circuit Criminal Court and the Dublin Metropolitan District of the District Court as screens not yet available.	These provisions will be commenced as soon as the relevant facilities are in place.
Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) (Amendment) Act 2018	Section 32	This section makes the Legal Services Regulatory Authority a ‘State competent authority’ in respect of its anti-money laundering role. As the LSRA was not yet fully operational at the date of commencement of the Act, it was not possible to commence this section at the time.	The role of the LSRA was further altered by the Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) (Amendment) Act 2021. It is intended to commence section 32 of the 2018 Act in due course.
Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (Consequential Provisions) Act 2019	Part 13 (sections 91 to 94) (Extradition provisions)	Not commenced as UK transition period was extended from end March 2019 to end December 2020.	These sections will not be commenced as similar provisions later included in Part 16 (sections 108 – 111) of the Withdrawal of the United Kingdom from the European Union (Consequential Provisions) Act 2020 replaced them. These sections were commenced with effect from 31 December 2020.
Counterfeiting Act 2021	Section 29 not commenced.	Section 29 has been given effect to by S.I. No. 408/2021 - European Union (Counterfeiting of Euro) Regulations 2021	Commencement of this section is no longer necessary due to SI 408/2021.