Court laws ‘fly in face of the Constitution’

NEW laws banning an accused person and their lawyers from court hearings into their detention “fly in the face of the Constitution” according to civil rights experts.

Critics of criminal justice legislation being pushed through the Oireachtas said such revolutionary measures were “extraordinary” in a democratic republic.

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) and the Irish Criminal Bar Association (ICBA) said the sweeping new powers would do “absolutely nothing” to address witness intimidation, which was one of the stated reasons for the legislation.