Plans to reform justice system 'weak'

GOVERNMENT plans to reform the country's criminal justice system are weak, the former head of the Criminal Assets Bureau yesterday said.

Solicitor Barry Galvin said lawlessness in the Republic is "unacceptably high" and legislative changes being introduced by Justice Minister Michael McDowell do not go far enough to address the situation.

Echoing comments he made on Tuesday to the joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Mr Galvin said: "There is a whole variety of nonsensical restrictions which mean criminals are getting away with it and victims are not being vindicated through the courts."

While the new Criminal Justice Bill 2003 was to be welcomed, some proposals did not go far enough and other necessary provisions were omitted altogether, he said.

Some of the Irish procedures for catching criminals were so ineffective that police visiting from other countries "would laugh at you".

He was also critical of he lack of resources available to the gardaí, saying "society ... is suffering, and will continue to suffer."

Mr Galvin said he welcomed the minister's provision for new offences involving members of organised crime gangs.

However, he added existing "procedural problems" were impacting on "the ability of the gardaí to do their jobs".

He cited difficulties obtaining search warrants, inadequate powers of arrest, and long delays between arrest and trial, as unwarranted roadblocks to an effective criminal justice system.

"To be efficient, police need to be able to get a search warrant. For years Ireland had a very high threshold for search warrants because of perceived constitutional or human rights difficulties. But you have to balance that against the ability to properly investigate crime."

He criticised the minister's proposal to allow only garda inspectors obtain a search warrant from a district judge. "I think the case officer, who knows the details, is the person who should go. It should also apply to any crime for which six months imprisonment is possible and not just serious crime."

Mr Galvin also attacked as inadequate suspect detention periods of six hours, saying it often did not give the gardaí time to investigate properly, and was "meaningless for complex crimes". He was particularly scathing of the bizarre procedure whereby a gunman can be detained for 72 hours but a vicious attacker using a knife can only be held for a maximum of 12 hours.

On Tuesday, Mr Galvin told the Justice Committee the odds of securing a prosecution in Irish courts are tilted 80:20 in favour of suspects.

He also told the committee that the "right to silence" was "necessary a century ago" but was now outdated. It is currently tilted in favour of the guilty and this should be addressed.

While the new Criminal Justice Bill was to be welcomed, vital proposals had been omitted, he said.