Vol. 434 No. 2
184 Mr. N. Ahern asked the Minister for Justice the action, if any, she proposes to take following the recent court decision where it was decided that urinating in public was no longer an offence as this act still offends the standards of decency of many; and whether the decision will be appealed or new legislation introduced.
The Deputy will appreciate that interpretation of the law is not a matter for the Minister for Justice. I would of course share the Deputy's view that behaviour which offends standards of decency should be prohibited by law and would make the point that where, in the circumstances of a particular case, the behaviour to which he refers is such as to be contrary to public decency or offend modesty, the offender would still be liable to prosecution under various Statutes, including the Summary Jurisdiction (Ireland) Amendment Act, 1871 and the Criminal Law Amendment Act, 1935. It would be for the Court to decide whether in such a case the behaviour complained of was, in the particular circumstances before the Court, contrary to public decency or offended modesty.
