Illegal abortion will no longer be ‘homicide’
The Central Statistics Office has come up with a new method of categorising crimes and admits that some users will “probably disagree with, or be initially surprised by” some classification decisions.
Among the high-profile changes are that abortion is no longer to be included with homicide offences, which now comprise murder, manslaughter, infanticide, and dangerous driving causing death.
Under the new Irish Crime Classification System (ICCS), abortion is now considered as a “miscellaneous offence” which is not otherwise classified.
Other crimes under the “miscellaneous” label include procuring or assisting in abortion, concealment of birth, destroying or disposing of a dead body, pawnbroking offences, rail travel offences, and employment permit and immigration offences.
Meanwhile, bigamy and prostitution are no longer included as crimes of a sexual nature. They are categorised as “public order and other social code offences”.
Prostitution (including soliciting), brothel-keeping and the organisation of prostitution are sub-categorised as “prostitution offences”, while bigamy comes under the “social code offences” sub-group along with bestiality, indecency, begging, and allowing a child under-16 to beg.
Other changes to the classification of crimes include a description of drink-driving and speeding as “negligent acts”.
Also classed as negligent acts are offences such as child neglect and cruelty; dangerous use of a boat or ship and interference with aircraft.
The new system will initially contain garda-recorded crime only but, according to the CSO, will eventually incorporate offences which are investigated and processed by other agencies, such as tax crimes, environmental offences and breaches of data protection.
The 2003-2006 Garda Recorded Crime Statistics, due to be published next Wednesday, will be the first of their kind to use the ICCS. It was devised following consultation between the CSO and the gardaí, with help from the Advisory Group on Crime Statistics which includes representatives of the main government departments involved in crime and justice, as well as the academic world.
