Garda independence under threat from minister, warn civil rights groups

THE Minister for Justice will be handed immense powers to control and influence gardaí under little-publicised sections of a Bill to reform the force, campaigners said yesterday.

Sections of the Garda Síochána Bill, if enacted, have the potential to seriously undermine the long held principle of police independence from the Government, a paper published yesterday warned.

Researchers from the Irish Council of Civil Liberties (ICCL) and Amnesty Ireland delivered the paper at a seminar on human rights and Garda reform.

Tanya Ward, ICCL policy officer, said the bill runs the risk of over-centralising and politicising the Gardaí, which will ultimately undermine its independence.

Under the proposed Act, the minister will have a more hands-on role in determining priorities and establishing performance targets. In all his or her actions, the Garda Commissioner must have regard to any relevant policies of the minister of Government.

“Is it really acceptable that one minister is able to exert such control over the gardaí?” Ms Ward asked.

While the minister is supposed to be accountable to the Oireachtas, the paper argues parliamentary scrutiny has been inefficient.

The ICCL/Amnesty report recommends the establishment of a national Garda Board, comprising nine to 11 members.

This would act as a buffer between politicians in power and the gardaí.

The Bill is still in the early stages of its progress through the Oireachtas and also includes plans for an Ombudsman Commission to replace the discredited Garda Complaints Board.

Professor Dermot Walsh, an acknowledged expert on policing in Ireland, described the proposed commission as a radical improvement on current arrangements.

However, the University of Limerick professor warned the Commission’s impact will be “heavily susceptible to political decisions on resources”.

Prof Walsh is critical of the multi-member Commission as opposed to a single individual “with a public reputation for independence and impartiality and the necessary expertise to pursue and remedy grievances”.

Under the Bill, the Commission can decide to ask the Commissioner to investigate most complaints, apart from those involving death or serious injury. Prof Walsh said a tight rein on resources will force the body to surrender investigations to the Commissioner.

He further argues that the scope of the complaints procedure is too limiting; that the complexity of the investigative options risks collapsing the process; that there is too much scope for either the Minister or the Commissioner to curtail investigations; and that any probe can be frustrated by the commission citing security concerns.