Deputy Seán Barrett has been given permission to raise on the Adjournment the reason the Minister for Justice has failed to bring into effect those sections of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984, dealing with the powers of the gardaí when investigating crimes, which had been scheduled to come into force on 6 April 1987. The Deputy has 15 minutes. Is he happy with that?
Adjournment Debate. - Implementation of Criminal Justice Act, 1984.
The reason I sought to raise this matter on the Adjournment arises from the public unrest at the failure of the Government to bring into effect those sections of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984, dealing with the powers of the gardaí when investigating crimes. The sections I refer to are as follows: section 4, detention after arrest; section 5, access to a solicitor and notification of detention; section 6, powers of Garda Síochána in relation to a detained person; section 8, destruction of records; section 9, application to persons in custody under section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act, 1939; section 10, rearrest; section 15, withholding information regarding firearms or ammunition; section 16, withholding information regarding stolen property etc.; section 18, inferences from failure or refusal to account for objects, marks etc.; section 19, inferences from an accused's presence at a particular place.
An order bringing these very important sections into effect could not be made until provision relating to the investigation of complaints from the public against members of the Garda Síochána, not above the rank of chief superintendent, and the adjudication by a body other than the Garda Síochána of such complaints were enacted by the Oireachtas and in operation, and until regulations under section 7 of the 1984 Act were made. These restrictions arose after many months of painstaking debate in this House on this very important legislation. Indeed, the Minister will recall the many hours spent by Members on all sides of the House on all Stages of the Bill in teasing out line by line the implications of this legislation. It is fair to say that, at the end of that debate, the public felt confident that, whilst the Garda Síochána were being given additional necessary powers to deal with crime, care had been taken to protect the rights and freedom of the individual who may be questioned or detained for questioning in connection with a particular offence.
Since then, we have had the Garda Síochána (Complaints) Act, 1986, which established the Garda Síochána Complaints Board from 6 April 1987 to deal with complaints by the public against members of the Garda Síochána. In July 1986, we had regulations laid by the then Minister for Justice before each House of the Oireachtas providing for the treatment of persons in custody in Garda stations. It would appear, therefore, that there is no justifiable reason for the delay in bringing into effect the sections I referred to earlier.
The Minister is no doubt aware of the alarming increase in the recent past in the number of armed robberies and other very serious crimes. I sincerely hope that the unexpected delay in bringing into effect these sections does not indicate a weakening of the Government's commitment to give the Garda Síochána the new powers of arrest and detention they need to deal with crime at this time.
The Deputy is under a misapprehension when he suggests that the remaining provisions of the Criminal Justice Act were scheduled to come into operation on 6 April. I am aware that there have been some reports in the news media which have suggested that this was the case but these were erroneous.
The position is as follows. With the exception of certain sections dealing with detention after arrest and the withholding of certain information, the Criminal Justice Act, 1984, was brought into force on 1 March 1985.
Section 1 (2) of the Act provides that the remaining sections cannot be brought into operation until provisions relating to the investigation and independent adjudication of complaints against gardaí have come into operation and regulations under section 7 dealing with the treatment of persons in custody in Garda stations have been made.
The first requirement has now been fulfilled in that the Garda Síochána Complaints Board have been established and have commenced operations as and from yesterday, 6 April. With regard to the second requirement, regulations under section 7 in relation to the treatment of persons detained in Garda stations were approved in draft form by both Houses of the Oireachtas in July last year. It was necessary to await the establishment of the complaints board before proceeding to make these regulations in order that there would be an independent forum to deal with any complaints which might arise under them. I want to assure the Deputy that I intend to make these regulations shortly. When this is done I will be in a position to make an order bringing the remaining provisions of the Criminal Justice Act into operation.
To have attempted to implement all of these complex measures on the same day — the establishment of the complaints board, the introduction of the treatment regulations and the bringing into operation of the remaining provisions of the Criminal Justice Act — would have created undue administrative difficulties for the Garda Síochána. The practical approach is to introduce these measures on a phased basis which is what I am doing. I repeat that I intend to make the treatment regulations and bring the remaining provisions of the Criminal Justice Act into operation shortly.
The Dáil adjourned at 11 p.m. until 10.30 a.m. on Wednesday, 8 April 1987.