THE MAJORITY OF an expert group on the State’s counter-terrorism laws has recommended that the Special Criminal Court be replaced with a new court that has additional safeguards and transparency.
The court is enabled by the Offences Against the State Act, the first of which was published in 1939 to prosecute members of the IRA and declare any similar organisations unlawful. The review said that it seemed to the majority of the group that the use of a non-jury court is “justified” and that the court is needed to counter “a real risk to juror intimidations”.
Accompanying the majority review, there is also a minority review who believe the establishment of a permanent non-jury court is “constitutionally inappropriate”. Belief-evidence As well as non-jury trials, the SCC has special powers to accept ‘belief-evidence’. This allows the belief of a Garda Chief Superintendent that a person is a member of an illegal organisation to be used and accepted as evidence of that person’s membership.
Additionally, sections relating to “inferences from silence” and interference with the course of justice must also not be re-enacted or replaced. The majority of the group recommended that aspects of the current laws be re-enacted and placed elsewhere in the state’s legislation. “With this in mind I have asked my officials to consult with other relevant Departments and the Garda Commissioner, the Office of the DPP and the Courts Service to inform the preparation of a substantive response for consideration by Government in due course,” she added.
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