The Morris report must be seen as an opportunity to radically reform Garda accountability, writes Maurice Manning, president of the Irish Human Rights Commission
For the Garda Síochána, the Interim Morris Report is, as the Minister for Justice, Mr Michael McDowell, said, "a black day", but for the wider society and especially for those who have long been calling for radical Garda reform, it represents an opportunity which must not be missed.
The Garda Síochána has long been defensive about itself, slow to admit to the existence of serious structural and procedural problems. From an outside perspective, reform and new thinking elsewhere seems to have passed it by.
This is all the more surprising, given that policing in Northern Ireland has experienced such new thinking and undergone radical change. The fact that this was forced upon a reluctant force and had its origins in a wider societal and historical context is largely irrelevant to the present debate. It has happened and happened successfully.
The issue of policing reform has been a priority for the Human Rights Commission since its establishment. In our experience, however, a major problem with discussions about policing is that a false choice is often presented between, on the one hand, supporting the role of the police in effectively preventing and prosecuting crime and, on the other hand, ensuring that police do not abuse their powers.
Effective protection of the community and respecting the rights of others are not competing goals; policing that respects individual rights will gain the confidence of the community and will be more effective, or as put by the Patten Report on Policing in Northern Ireland: "The fundamental purpose of policing should be ... the protection and vindication of the rights of all ... there should be no conflict between human rights and policing. Policing means human rights."
The Garda Síochána has remained largely unchanged since its establishment. The basic ethos of an unarmed civilian force has stood the test of time, but there are many areas in which the institutions of Irish policing need to be strengthened and redefined. The development of international human rights standards in the area of criminal justice over the past 50 years have, in particular, given us new insights into how structures of accountability and staff training can contribute to the protection of human rights within policing.
The Garda Síochána Bill in its current state makes significant steps forward in relation to the investigation of complaints, or at least it will if the proposed Ombudsman Commission is genuinely independent and this new institution is given sufficient resources to carry out its functions - not insignificant qualifications. However, as the Human Rights Commission pointed out in its submission to the Minister on the Bill, there are equally significant areas of reform which have not yet been addressed.
Looking again to Northern Ireland, the establishment of the police board, the police authority and the district policing partnerships have been significant components in the reformation of policing there. In essence, these structures have created new accountability, through which the police are accountable to the people and not just to security Ministers.
A key characteristic of so many police forces around the world is civilian, as distinct from political, oversight. While Northern Ireland shows the way in how to broaden accountability, the Garda Síochána Bill, in contrast, further concentrates political control of the Garda with the Minister for Justice. The proposals for local police accountability are weak and, at a time when there is a deterioration in the relationship between the public and the police, new structures of dialogue are necessary for the Garda as well as for the public.
The Minister has emphasised more than once his opposition to an independent authority, or series of authorities, to which the Garda would be accountable. He prefers the concept of parliamentary accountability, for which he adduces strong democratic arguments - most especially parliament is directly accountable to the people in a way in which no unelected body can ever be.
As somebody who spent many years in the Oireachtas, I have some sympathy with the Minister's view - at least in principle. My concern is, however, that our parliament has shown itself singularly ill-equipped to exert meaningful accountability and this has not changed to any significant degree with the new committee system. Occasionally, the Public Accounts Committee scores a hit, but otherwise it is difficult to cite any examples of meaningful accountability exerted by an Oireachtas committee.
In part this is due to the dominance of parliament by the executive. Indeed the Minister well knows that legislation is routinely railroaded through the Oireachtas to suit the convenience of Ministers and it is this governmental mindset - common to all governments - which puts a huge credibility mark over effective Oireachtas accountability of the Garda Síochána.
In addition, there are the judicial strictures in the Abbeylara case: Oireachtas Committees may not make findings of fact, or any findings detrimental to the reputation of any individual. As a result, the case for accountability through Oireachtas Committees raises huge questions.
That said, a firm purpose of amendment from the Minister and a radical, imaginative approach to the question of making a reality of parliamentary accountability should not be easily dismissed.
Possibly the most effective way to achieve this would be for the Minster to ask the new Oireachtas Commission to devise an appropriate and effective committee system. The Oireachtas Commission is independent of government, is enjoined to strengthen the Oireachtas and is made up of some very experienced parliamentarians. It is worth a shot, even if the Human Rights Commission and indeed many others remain to be persuaded.
There is also the key question of training. In Northern Ireland there has been a total overhaul of training and education and a shift to providing the skills for contemporary community policing and a strong emphasis on human rights.
Despite the best efforts of the training staff at the Garda College in Templemore, current training structures within the force are seriously deficient in many respects. Given the high educational standards of Garda recruits, a revision of training systems based on the best modern standards is needed.
We believe we have much to learn from the North. Patten was not just about addressing the particular challenges of Northern Ireland - it is about striving for the best standards and systems of policing in the world. We see no reason why the public on this side of the Border do not also deserve the best international standards of policing based on principles of human rights.
Despite the current problems facing the Garda, the history of unarmed policing in this State since 1922 has been, for the greater part, something that we are rightly proud of. Building on the many positive aspects of that tradition and the undoubted commitment of the vast majority of gardaí, we are convinced that a reformed Garda Síochána could be among the very best in the world in protecting and promoting the human rights of everyone in our society.
The vital ingredient in making this happen is the leadership and resolve of Government and the Oireachtas, in seizing an opportunity which may not easily recur.