GANGLAND CRIMINALS face conviction in the non-jury Special Criminal Court on the word of a senior garda once there is covertly gathered surveillance evidence to corroborate the officer’s testimony.
The new legislative measures that negate the need for juries and civilian witnesses were unveiled yesterday by Taoiseach Brian Cowen and Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern.
The provisions, contained in the new Criminal Justice Amendment Bill 2009, have been fast tracked since the murder in Limerick last month of businessman Roy Collins. Gardaí believe the 34-year-old father of two was killed because a member of his family gave evidence against a gang leader.
Mr Cowen described the new provisions as “groundbreaking” saying the Government could not tolerate a situation where “citizens live in fear” of crime gangs.
“This new legislation sends out a clear message to those involved in criminal gangs that we are taking you head on.”
Mr Ahern said he hoped the new Bill would be enacted before the Dáil breaks for summer. He said the ambitious timetable and new provisions underlined the Government’s determination to defeat organised crime. Gangs would not be allowed use intimidation and threats to operate outside the rule of law.
Many of the new provisions are styled on legislation that has already been used successfully to target dissident paramilitaries. A new offence of directing or controlling a crime gang is being created, carrying a maximum sentence of life imprisonment.
Mr Ahern acknowledged new provisions around directing, controlling or participating in a crime gang will be more difficult to frame than those dealing with paramilitary organisations.
Crime gangs are more fluid and membership does not involve a formal entry process making gang activity more difficult to prove as an offence in itself.
In trials involving gang activity a court will be able to draw inferences from a suspect’s failure to answer questions in custody and their failure to explain their actions or associations with others.
The penalty for intimidating a witness or juror is being increased from 10 to 15 years. Sentences for gangland crime will generally be increased.
The admissibility of Garda evidence in relation to gang prosecutions and the use of the Special Criminal Court to prosecute such cases are both new measures. Under the new legislation all cases relating to gang activity will be tried in the non-jury Special Criminal Court unless the DPP directs otherwise. Currently all gangland cases are heard before a jury unless the DPP directs them to the Special Criminal Court.
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) said the proposed use of the Special Criminal Court is likely to present “insurmountable legal difficulties”.
ICCL director Mark Kelly said: “The emphasis should be upon intelligence-led and community-based policing, coupled with speedier trial processes designed to protect jurors and witnesses, rather than on undermining the rule of law by expanding the Special Criminal Court.”
Fine Gael’s spokesman on justice Charlie Flanagan said the new legislative measures would not work unless the Garda Síochána was properly resourced. Drugs were at the centre of most serious crime, he added. “Efforts must be made to address the cause of drug crime and to prevent their importation. Gangland crime must be addressed at source.”
Sinn Féin’s spokesman on justice Aengus Ó Snodaigh said the new measures were populist and would not work. The Government needed to fund properly the Garda and local drugs taskforces.
