THE power to detain suspects without charge for seven days will probably be used more against drug addicts than dealers, according to the Law Society.
The solicitors' representative body issued a statement yesterday condemning the proposal, contained in the Minister for Justice's Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Bill. The Bill receives it second reading in the Dail tomorrow.
The society said the seven day detention powers for suspected drug dealers was a risk to civil liberties and should not be introduced.
The chairman of the society's criminal law committee, Mr James MacGuill, said Mrs Owen had not justified the introduction of seven day detention for suspected drug dealers. "Solicitors believe from practical experience that such powers would be generally used against vulnerable drug addicts who have become the tools of major drug dealers rather than against the drug dealers themselves."
He said the detention without charge reversed the presumption of innocence until proven guilty. "The detained person loses his liberty without any evidence being proffered against him and proved in court."
Mr MacGuill said a statement was often the only evidence against the accused where a conviction was secured on the basis of interrogation.
The society said a commission, set up after the introduction of 12 hour detention, had recommended that interrogations should be video taped. This and other recommendations have not been put into effect.
