Madam, – Michael McCann (July 9th) writes that if the Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill stops one Irish citizen from being intimidated, it will be worth it. Could he, and those like him, give us a rough idea as to how many innocent people serving prison sentences will be necessary before it is no longer worth it?
The legislation might have a detrimental effect on organised crime but we can say with certainty that the Special Criminal Court which brought us the false convictions of the 1980s, as in the Sallins train robbery, and the police force that brought us the Morris Tribunal will put some of those innocent Irish citizens behind bars.
I hope Michael’s not one of them. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – The Minister For Justice Dermot Ahern must be a political genius. At a stroke, he has transformed Fianna Fáil from the party of economic catastrophe into the party of law and order, bravely standing up for the people.
The Opposition and legal professionals, raising human rights-based objections, are cast in the role of pettifogging obstructionists to Mr. Ahern’s “Dirty Harry”.
What is worrying is that journalists appear so willing to assist Mr Ahern with the image change. For example, Kevin O’Connor (Opinion, July 9th) appears to go as far as to attack lawyers opposing the bill as venal professionals defending their business defending criminals.
Constitutional rights and human rights protect the innocent as well as the guilty.
What is the point in having them if it is not permissible to draw upon them in the context of real political problems?
The reality is that much of the content of this Bill is objectionable and many of its provisions – particularly the admission of opinion evidence by current and former gardaí and the provision for secret detention hearings — increase the likelihood that innocent people will be detained and convicted.
The political context of this bill suggests a government engaged in crass populism.
The result, in a few years time and when cooler heads have prevailed, is likely to be another Donegal-style tribunal. – Yours, etc,
Madam, – Michael Farrell, (Opinion, July 6th) claims that the lamp of freedom may burn a little dimmer if the new Criminal Justice Bill is passed but, of course, for all those future victims of Ireland’s murder gangs, that light will be extinguished.
Too often criminals are able to escape prosecution and conviction, because of their capacity to intimidate potential witnesses.
It is too easy for gangs to exercise this control, for their members are often drawn from the same communities.
In the face of such organised intimidation, who but the very brave would risk their lives in the cause of justice, when the existing criminal justice system has been shown to be inadequate to protect them?
We may have abolished the death penalty from our legal system, but it is being increasingly exercised by the gang leaders and gang members who terrorise what is mostly referred to as “working class” communities.
In the name of justice and fairness, is it not time that the Government took strong action to protect and defend these communities?
The Irish Human Rights Commission, in addition to showing concern for the rights of suspects, should also concern itself with the rights of these oppressed and often murdered by the gangs who terrorise our communities. – Yours, etc,