Gardaí warn of threat to gangland legislation
The Garda Representative Association (GRA) is particularly worried about a key provision in the Criminal Justice Bill 2009, which allows gardaí of any rank – not just senior officers – to give opinion evidence in trials.
GRA secretary general PJ Stone said the evidence of a garda could be interpreted in court as “an individual opinion” and not the collective opinion of the force, as expressed by a senior garda. This could, he suggested, lead to defendants challenging the legislation.
