Justice Committee publishes pre-legislative scrutiny report of the General Scheme of the Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025

Read the report and its recommendations in full here. 

The General Scheme develops existing policies to improve the efficiency of courts, aims to free up more Garda time for frontline policing, changes legislation in relation to the disclosure of counselling notes in sexual offence trials, encourages greater use of non-custodial sanctions in suitable cases, addresses sexually exploitative practices in the rental market and the use of face coverings to intimidate other persons or evade justice, and introduces legislation to allow prison officers to deploy incapacitant spray in certain circumstances in prisons.

Speaking on the launch of the report, Committee Cathaoirleach Deputy Matt Carthy said: “This General Scheme of the Bill contains provisions to change a large and diverse range of existing legislation. It provides for a wide range of reforms to the criminal law and also includes a number of important civil law provisions and the proposed legislation responds to a range of pressing challenges for the criminal justice system. 

I would like to express my appreciation to all the stakeholders for their contributions and to the Members of the Committee for their engagement on this subject. In particular I want to express the Committee’s thanks to Hazel Behan, a victim and survivor whose evidence had a significant impact on the Committee members.

The Committee noted the particular interest in Head 19, which deals with the issue of counselling notes in sexual offence trials. 

The Committee welcomes certain aspects of this legislation, such as provisions that will allow court proceedings to be undertaken more efficiently. However, following its hearing on the General Scheme, the Committee wishes to highlight other areas within the legislation, including the provisions set out in Head 19, the human rights implications of using incapacitant spray, and how prison overcrowding is being addressed.

In undertaking pre-legislative scrutiny, the Committee has sought to scrutinise the proposed legislation and provide recommendations on areas where it believes change or amendments are warranted. 

Among the areas identified for further examination within the General Scheme include the issue of remote hearings, the use of incapacitant spray in prisons, extending the use of Community Service Orders and proposals to allow Gardaí the direction to remove face coverings.

Amongst the key recommendations which the Committee makes is that Head 19 sets out a complete and unconditional ban on the use of counselling records in sexual offence trials. 

Finally, I hope that this report will help to inform the legislative process and make a valuable contribution to the forthcoming legislation.”

The Committee has made 17 recommendations which are outlined below: 

- The Committee recommends the inclusion of a subsection in Head 6 requiring that the consent of the accused be secured for each application for a remote hearing, in particular, when it is envisaged to conduct a trial remotely. 

- The Committee recommends that a direction be included that remote hearings, as set out in Head 6, should not be extended to jury trials, and to summary trials involving the potential for imprisonment. If remote proceedings are permitted for such trials, it is recommended that these will be exceptional and not normative. 

- The Committee recommends that regulations are provided on the use of remote proceedings as set out in Head 6, and that a human rights review of the operation of remote proceedings takes place within a three-year period of commencement of the legislation. 

- Regarding the provisions set out in Head 17, the Committee recommends that only officers of the Forensic Science Ireland Laboratory may sign Section 10 of the 1984 Act certificate as provided by subsection (1). 

- The Committee recommends that Head 19 sets out a complete and unconditional ban on the use of counselling records in sexual offence trials. 

- The Committee recommends removing Head 20 in full, and that Prison Officers are not armed with incapacitant spray. 

- The Committee recommends that Head 25 is amended to ensure that there is proportionality between the custodial sentence and the Community Service Order hours. 

- The Committee recommends the inclusions of a provision under Head 25 that would enable individuals subject to higher hours of community service to carry them out in a manner that takes into account the time they might need to dedicate to employment and childcare responsibilities, as well as therapeutic appointments. 

- Regarding the provision set out in Head 25 obliging the Court to provide reasons for decisions to impose custodial sentences rather than community sentences, the Committee recommends that a mechanism is established to collect this data and monitor sentencing trends 

- The Committee recommends the allocation of additional funding to the Probation Service to enable the proposed expansion of alternatives to custodial sentences under Head 25. 

- The Committee recommends, as a matter of urgency, the publication of the Review on the Criminal Justice (Community Sanctions) Bill 2014. 

- Regarding the provisions set out in Head 25, the Committee recommends the inclusions of a provision that prohibits the use of Community Service Orders in place of other more appropriate non-custodial sentences. 

- The Committee recommends the inclusion, in Head 25 of the General Scheme, of a Probation Order where a Community Service Order is not made. 

- The Committee recommends Head 26 is subjected to extensive human rights scrutiny and review. The review should include an impact assessment on how this provision might affect individuals who wear face coverings for legitimate reasons such as health, religious, cultural and solidarity purposes. 

- The Committee recommends that a review is conducted to assess the intended impact of the provisions set out in Head 26, and to ascertain if such powers are already proscribed within the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act, 1994 or other statutory provisions. 

- The Committee recommends that a review is conducted to assess if the provisions set out in Head 39 are working as intended, and a report should be produced and published regarding such a review. 

- Strengthening regulation and moderation by online platforms hosting rental advertisements, 

- Clarifying the rights and supports available to licensees, and 

- Rolling out a targeted public information campaign to raise awareness.