Special Criminal Court

Font22

Hello all,

I can't remember when I heard this but I remember someone telling me that there was going to be some sort of reform in the special criminal court. Been looking for stuff on this but haven't found anything! Does anyone know what type of reforms are proposed?

Thanks,
Font22

Rhonda9000

Font22 wrote: »

Hello all,

I can't remember when I heard this but I remember someone telling me that there was going to be some sort of reform in the special criminal court. Been looking for stuff on this but haven't found anything! Does anyone know what type of reforms are proposed?

Thanks,
Font22

I think the reforms were to do with trying organized / serious skanger crime within the Special Criminal Court framework to avoid e.g. witness intimidation problems that have now become problematic enough to undermine the Central Criminal Court process. As far as I was aware, the SCC was established to try terrorism / IRA crimes way back when... and thats the limit of my knowledge of criminal law

_JOE_

Was this McDowell's proposals regarding the admission of witnesses statements as truth of the facts without the actually present?
Or possibly it could also refer to Ms justice Denham's proposals on reform of the superior courts?

Tom Young

Font22.

2006 CJ Act

http://oireachtas.ie/viewdoc.asp?DocID=6490&CatID=87&StartDate=01%20January%202006&OrderAscending=0

Pages and inserts to SCC and OASA 1939.

Pgs: 31, 156, 163.

Tom

Font22

Perfect! Just what I was looking for Tom Young, once again you help me out! Thanks!

johnnyskeleton

Font22 wrote: »

Does anyone know what type of reforms are proposed?

Returning it to the Kafkaesque nightmare from whence it came?

Robbo

johnnyskeleton wrote: »

Returning it to the Kafkaesque nightmare from whence it came?

"One morning as the Chief Justice awoke from his anxious dreams, he discovered that he had transformed into a monstrous insect"?

Tom Young

Actually, I was surfing the Dail debates for the comments on the Emergency Powers, under which the SCC was originally derived. I remember vaguely that there was a Dail debate on same last year and the reason for retention was something along the lines of Al Quada cells in Dublin!

If I find the actual debate I can send on.

johnnyskeleton

Tom Young wrote: »

Actually, I was surfing the Dail debates for the comments on the Emergency Powers, under which the SCC was originally derived. I remember vaguely that there was a Dail debate on same last year and the reason for retention was something along the lines of Al Quada cells in Dublin!

If I find the actual debate I can send on.

As far as I know, the emergency powers have ceased, but the special criminal court, and the "measures" which the courts found were necessary on previous occasions are still around.

Oilrig

And we moaned about the Diplock Courts... :rolleyes:

johnnyskeleton

Oilrig wrote: »

And we moaned about the Diplock Courts... :rolleyes:

Basically the same thing, except that the special criminal court has 3 judges and they are higher up the food chain.

People seems to support this type of court for the big gang leaders etc, but I don't think there is much jury intimidation in Ireland. Witness intimidation yes, informant intimidation absolutely, there's even a growing trend of garda intimidation (time was the gards intimidated the gangs) but I don't think there ever really was much jury intimidation.

Victor

Of course, with republican trials, one also had to watch out for sympathisers, something less likely with criminals.