Law « Thurles Information

Garda Body Worn Cameras Launched In Limerick

Limerick is the second location to trial Body Worn Cameras following their introduction in Dublin in early June, which saw an overall positive reaction from the public, as to their necessary use.

Garda Commissioner Drew Harris, today launched the Body Worn Cameras proof of concept at Henry Street Garda station in Limerick city.
Limerick is the just the second of three pilot locations to test the use of Garda Body Worn Cameras (BWCs) before a national rollout.

The Garda Síochána (Recording Devices) Act 2023 was signed into law just last December. The Act provides for Body Worn Cameras, Garda CCTV, automatic number plate recognition, and Community CCTV.

An Garda Síochána is undertaking three phased introductions as part of its proof of concepts stage. Three vendors have been chosen with different BWCs to be deployed in each trial location. The cameras in use in the DMR and Limerick are from different manufacturers.

The pilot roll-out of BWCs will continue later this year in Waterford. When complete, the three-phased pilot will inform their introduction in Garda Stations nationwide.

Each BWC can record footage to its own internal encrypted storage, which will be uploaded when the Garda docks the camera in a Garda station. The camera footage is uploaded at the end of a shift so it can be used as evidence at court or is deleted after an agreed time, if it is not required as evidence.
All of the digital imagery collected by BWCs will be managed by a Digital Evidence Management System (DEMS).

Commissioner Harris also warned Garda members that they will face dismissal from the force, and potential criminal prosecution, if they are found to have shared or leaked footage of incidents captured on Garda BWCs.

Man Jailed For Seven Years Following Rape Of 13-Year-Old Girl.

A 22-year-old male admitted raping a 13-year-old girl and falsely imprisoning her 16-year-old friend, having driven both teenage girls to buy cannabis in Co Tipperary on June 22nd of last year.

Both girls had been looking for a lift, and the man said he would take them “to collect weed”. Having collected the cannabis, the man drove the victims to a dark and secluded carpark area and raped the younger girl, while the other girl remained locked in his car.
He returned to the car some 15 minutes later and drove the girls to where they were staying.

The court learned that the man knew the girls age as he was already friends with her cousin. Ms Justice Karen O’Connor said that the huge age disparity between the accused and the 13-year-old minor was an aggravating factor in the offence, along with the fact that he had driven both girls to obtain drugs.

The accused was already on bail for the defilement of another teenager at the time he carried out the rape and false imprisonment. Ms Justice O’Connor said that the offences now represent both a repetition and an escalation of his previous sexual offending. The court also heard that his previous sentence of five years, with two years suspended, has now been activated and same must be served prior to this new 7 year sentence could take effect.

Ms Justice O’Connor further ordered that the accused remain abstinent from alcohol and all illicit drugs; attend mental health services, and engage with all treatment programmes and offence-focused work, as directed by the probation services, by Túsla and by An Garda Síochána. She further directed that he undergo supervision by the probation services, for a further three years following his prison release, and that his name be placed on the ‘Sex Offenders’ Register.

Defamation Bill Published.

Robust, fair and proportionate legislation will meet the challenges of an increasingly complex media landscape.
Abolition of juries in High Court defamation actions will reduce disproportionate and unpredictable awards.
Protections against SLAPP proceedings, which are recognised internationally as a threat to press freedom and democracy.
Range of provisions to support agreed resolution of defamation cases and reduce high legal costs.

The Irish Government have granted approval to publish the Defamation (Amendment) Bill 2024. The full text of the Bill will be published on the website of the Houses of the Oireachtas next week.

The Bill provides for a range of reforms to address concerns raised by stakeholders during the public consultation on review of the Defamation Act 2009. Its publication marks significant progress on the Programme for Government commitment to review and reform Irish defamation laws.

The main purposes of the Bill are to:

Tackle disproportionate awards, and support more consistent, proportionate and predictable redress in defamation cases, including the abolition of juries in High Court defamation cases.
Support easier access to justice for individuals whose reputations are unfairly attacked.
Provide that, if a person is defamed, the correction must be the same or similar prominence to the defamatory publication.
Provide enhanced and clearer protection for responsible public interest journalism.
Reduce legal costs and delays for all parties, by supporting the use of alternative dispute resolution (ADR) and by measures to encourage prompt correction and apology, where mistakes are made.
Deter abusive use of unfounded defamation proceedings, particularly SLAPPs*.

* SLAPPs are unfounded and abusive legal actions that aim to silence those working in the public interest on matters such as fundamental rights, the environment, and public access to information.

Several further key reforms are being finalised, during the Bill’s passage through the Oireachtas. These include the clearer and simpler defence of fair and reasonable publication in the public interest, which is particularly important to protect responsible public interest journalism.
They also include a statutory power for the Circuit Court to issue a ‘Norwich Pharmacal’* order, directing a digital services provider to identify an anonymous poster of defamatory online material, thus significantly reducing the legal costs for a person subjected to such comments. Work on a power for the courts to award damages for harm suffered by a person targeted by SLAPP proceedings is already in the pipeline.

* A Norwich Pharmacal order is an order made by the court which compels the respondent to disclose certain information or documents to the applicant. This form of order is primarily sought as a means of identifying the appropriate defendant to an action. It is commonly sought against an innocent intermediary who, although not directly involved in the offending activity, holds information or documentation required for the issuing of proceedings.

The Bill will introduce a new statutory defence in ‘retail defamation’ cases, which is in response to stakeholder concerns about a large recent increase in claims of verbal defamation made against retail businesses, particularly against SMEs.

The Circuit Court has repeatedly held that it is not defamatory, for example, simply to ask a person who walks past the checkout to leave the shop with goods, to produce a receipt for them; or to explain that a banknote cannot be accepted in payment, if it does not seem to be legal tender. Nevertheless, defamation claims in such cases are now generating significant extra legal and insurance costs for these businesses.

The Bill addresses the problem by providing a new statutory defence for the retailer, which builds on the defence of qualified privilege. The new defence does not apply if the retailer is acting with malice, or if the retailer’s comments are publicised excessively, when discretion could have been used.

The Bill gives effect to the General Scheme for a Defamation Amendment Bill which was approved and published by Government on 28th March 2023. It responds to the Report of the Review of the Defamation Act, published in March 2022, which was informed by an extensive public consultation.

The Bill also takes account of the pre legislative scrutiny report on the General Scheme, published by the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice on 27 th September 2023.

Passage of Courts, Civil Law, Criminal Law & Superannuation Bill Welcomed.

Passage of Courts, Civil Law, Criminal Law and Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024 Welcomed.

Mandatory retirement age for uniformed public servants to increase from 60 to 62 years for those who wish to avail of it.
Carrier liability fines to increase where airlines allow passengers to board without proper documentation.
Maximum penalties for a number of serious knife-related offences to increase.

The passage of the Courts, Civil Law, Criminal Law and Superannuation (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2024 has been welcomed today.

This Bill will allow for an increase in the mandatory retirement for uniformed public servants, including members of An Garda Síochána, Prison Officers and the Defence Forces, from 60 to 62 years of age, for those who wish to avail of it

The Bill will also increase the maximum fines payable by airline and ferry companies, where they allow someone to travel into the Irish State without proper documentation.

The Bill restores the power of the Minister for Justice to revoke certificates of naturalisation. The Damache Judgement in the Supreme Court found the process lacked necessary safeguards.
The circumstances in which certificates can be revoked remains unchanged and include where a person poses a security risk to the State or where citizenship was obtained through fraudulent means.

The Bill will also increase the maximum penalties, upon conviction on indictment, for the following four knife-related offences;

Possession in a public place of an article intended to cause injury to, incapacitate or intimidate the person.
Trespass with a knife, weapon of offence or other article which has a blade or sharp point.
Production of an article capable of inflicting serious injury.
Manufacture, sale, hire etc. of offensive weapons, (of such description as may be specified by Ministerial order).

The Bill also includes a number of amendments to the Judicial Council Act 2019, to provide for changes to the personal injuries guidelines to address issues identified by the Supreme Court in the recent Delaney case.

Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking Bill Passed.

The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking) Bill 2023 has passed through both Houses of the Oireachtas today.

The Bill is seen as a major legislative step forward in ensuring that the justice system protects and supports all victims of domestic, sexual and gender-based violence.

The Bill contains a number of important measures, including:

Ensuring anonymity for victims in all trials for sexual offences.
Extend the victim’s right to separate legal representation if they are being questioned about their previous sexual history.
Ensure character evidence at a sentencing hearing for a person convicted of a sexual offence must be made on under oath or by way of affidavit.
Ensure people subject to military law who commit specified sexual offences will be dealt with by An Garda Síochána and the civilian courts rather than by courts-martial.
Put the new National Referral Mechanism (NRM) for human trafficking victims on a statutory footing.
Clear the final obstacles to ratification of the Second Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.

The Bill, once enacted, will ensure anonymity for victims in all trials for sexual offences and will offer them greater protection, as they engage with the justice system, by enshrining their right to separate legal representation if there is an application to question them over their previous sexual experience.

The victim’s right to separate legal representation if there is an application to question them about their previous sexual experience will be extended to include trials for sexual assault, which had not previously been covered under the legislation. The barrister who is assigned to represent the victim at the application will be allowed to continue to represent the victim at the questioning, if the application is granted.

The Bill also provides for the ‘vouching‘ of character evidence in sexual offences cases. This will ensure that where a person has been convicted of a sexual offence, character references presented at sentencing will have to be made via oath or affidavit.

In addition, the new Bill also puts a revised National Referral Mechanism (NRM) in place for identification and support of victims of trafficking. This new approach will make it easier for victims of trafficking to come forward, be identified and access advice, accommodation and support.

Some victims of trafficking, because of interactions they may have had with law enforcement officials in other jurisdictions, have a perception that police cannot be trusted. This new approach acknowledges other state bodies, outside of An Garda Síochána, as well as Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs), have a role in identifying victims of human trafficking and referring them to the National Referral Mechanism.