Garda training, recruitment to the Garda Siochána and the political accountability of the force remain in need of "urgent attention" following the introduction of the new Garda Bill, the Human Rights Commission (HRC) said today.
Speaking on changes made to the Bill, Mr Maurice Manning said that, in the view of the HRC, the Bill, and in particular the establishment of the Garda Ombudsman Commission, marked "an historic step" towards placing human rights at the centre of Irish policing.
"We believe that this legislation has the potential to greatly strengthen the capacity of the Garda Síochána as a consensual police service aspiring to the highest international standards of human rights protection and promotion.
"However, the HRC believes that the introduction of the Garda Bill is only one part of a broader programme of police reform and we would emphasise that issues of police training, recruitment to the service and the political accountability of the Garda Síochána are matters that remain in need of urgent attention."
Under the Bill, the role and function of the Garda are spelled out for the first time and include the duty to have regard to human rights. The Ombudsman Commission, which will have its own investigators, will take over the investigation of complaints against members of the force. This body will have the power to arrest, detain, take forensic samples, seize documents and enter Garda stations during its investigations.
The Bill also creates a new offence of unauthorised disclosure of information obtained in the course of Garda duties if this is likely to have a "harmful effect".
The HRC made a detailed submission in November on an earlier draft of the Garda Bill and made a number of amendments and changes.
Mr Manning said.the HRC has made a further submission to the Minister with recommendations on how the newest draft of the Bill might be strengthened. It suggests that the presumption that all investigations, except the most minor, be conducted by the Ombudsman Commission be strengthened.
It also says that "death or serious harm" is too narrow a category of complaint for mandatory investigation of complaints by the commission.
The HRC also suggests the general time limit on making complaints should be 12 months rather than six months and that allowances be made for waiving this time limit where the "alleged improper conduct" becomes known to the complainant only after the expiry of the time limit.