Barrister warns Special Criminal Court gangland plans are premature

GOVERNMENT plans to have gangland murders and other serious crimes brought before the Special Criminal Court could be premature, a criminal barrister has warned.

Taoiseach Bertie Ahern suggested in the Dáil on Tuesday that laws could be changed if gangs continue to intimidate witnesses due to give evidence in murder trials. He also indicated tough sanctions were being considered in relation to gun law, referring to the Special Criminal Court, which can hear cases of serious crime with evidence of senior gardaí’s opinions on a defendant’s activities, usually not admitted in other courts.

Tony McGillicuddy, a Dublin barrister, said measures were being considered without recent tougher crime legislation being tested in the courts.

“The Criminal Justice Acts of 2006 and 2007, for example, have made extensive changes to laws of evidence and were sold to the public as helping the fight against gangland crime. But these have not yet been given the chance to come into effect in cases being heard before the courts,” he said.

Among the powers granted by these laws are restrictions on the right to silence during garda questioning and the ability of witness statements to be used in prosecutions without direct evidence, although defence teams are still allowed to cross-examine witnesses on those statements.

“The ink is barely dry on some of these measures and the Government is now apparently considering other measures which would impact on the criminal justice system,” said Mr McGillicuddy.

He added the Director of Public Prosecutions already has the discretion to send certain crimes for hearing before the non-jury Special Criminal Court, as he did in the cases of John Gilligan, Brian Meehan and Paul Ward, who were each charged with the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin. Gilligan was cleared but found guilty on drugs charges, while Meehan and Ward were found guilty of murder but Ward’s conviction was subsequently overturned on appeal.

The Special Criminal Court, in which three judges hear evidence and decide the verdicts, has been most commonly used to hear cases of membership of illegal organisations.

It is only on such charges the evidence of top-ranking gardaí’s opinions can be admitted.

It convicted Real IRA leader Michael McKevitt of directing terrorism, a conviction which was upheld on appeal but has been further appealed to the Supreme Court.

The matter of witness intimidation was apparent last week when a man was jailed for perjury, after failing to give evidence in the trial of Liam Keane for murder, which then collapsed. Roy Behan had identified Keane as the killer of Eric Leamy in statements to gardaí but denied knowledge of the incident in court, having allegedly been threatened that he would be killed.