Union of Students in Ireland (USI) deputy president Rory Hearne last night called on the Government to cancel bringing anti-social behaviour orders (Asbos) and other Criminal Justice Bill amendments to Cabinet until all issues have been discussed.
He made his call at a meeting in Dublin of community groups, politicians and individuals opposing Asbos.
Speakers expressed concern at other aspects of the Criminal Justice Bill, including proposals to increase periods of detention from 12 to 24 hours, photographing everyone who is arrested and electronic tagging.
Mr Hearne called on people to support a march on June 11th, organised by USI and the Union of Secondary Students, to highlight young people's dissatisfaction with being excluded by Government from the consultation process on Asbos.
Sinn Féin TD Aengus Ó Snodaigh said aspects of the Bill, such as increasing Garda powers to search people in public places and on-the-spot fines, infringed on civil liberties.
Ivana Bacik, Reid professor of criminal law at Trinity College Dublin, described the 2004 Criminal Justice Bill as a dangerous concession to those who have argued that the criminal justice system is too heavily weighted in favour of the suspect.
"The inclusion of the proposed measures on Asbos must also be questioned as they raise serious concerns about criminalising a vulnerable population of young people without offering a means to tackle effectively the very real problem of anti-social behaviour in many communities."
Social campaigner for the homeless Fr Peter McVerry said Asbos were "a superficial response to a serious problem". Although they were politically popular, they were likely to make the problem worse.