Results 181-200 of 16,537 for speaker:Brian Lenihan Jnr

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Temporary Release of Prisoners) Bill 2001: Second Stage. (8 Oct 2003)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I am pleased to present to the House today the Criminal Justice (Temporary Release of Prisoners) Bill 2001. The purpose of the Bill is to provide a clearer legislative basis for the power of the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform to grant temporary release to a prisoner by amending the Criminal Justice Act 1960 and setting out the purposes for which temporary release may be...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Temporary Release of Prisoners) Bill 2001: Second Stage. (8 Oct 2003)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I thank the Senators who contributed to this informative and constructive debate. Before I deal with the specific points raised by speakers, I should reiterate that the main purpose of the Bill is to provide a clear legislative basis for the granting of temporary releases. The legislative device in question, therefore, is the amendment of section 2 of the Criminal Justice Act 1960. This Bill...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Temporary Release of Prisoners) Bill 2001: Second Stage. (8 Oct 2003)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Deputy McDowell is the Minister, but the Bill was piloted through the other House by the Minister of State, Deputy O'Dea, and me and it seems fated to be piloted through this House by me. There was a suggestion by Senator Terry that a grave abuse of ministerial power had been uncovered by the courts. However, in the Corish judgment – the decision of Mr. Justice O'Neill, to which Senator...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Temporary Release of Prisoners) Bill 2001: Second Stage. (8 Oct 2003)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Does Senator Terry's query relate to the Corish case?

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Temporary Release of Prisoners) Bill 2001: Second Stage. (8 Oct 2003)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I wanted to deal with that question and I am glad the Senator reminded me of it. It is my understanding that the State has never been exposed in damages from a person who objected to the temporary release of an individual. There has been no liability there and no clause in this Bill seeks to exonerate the State from any such liability. In any event, the State would not accept liability in...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Temporary Release of Prisoners) Bill 2001: Committee Stage. (15 Oct 2003)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The provision, as currently framed, allows the Minister to direct the temporary release of a prisoner having regard to the purpose of such release and the considerations the Minister must take into account before deciding whether to grant temporary release. The Senator is seeking a written direction but it is always open to a Minister to make a decision orally and provision has been made in a...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Temporary Release of Prisoners) Bill 2001: Committee Stage. (15 Oct 2003)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The formula of words used in the subsection was chosen with deliberation by the Parliamentary Counsel. The wording introduces the notion of a direction being issued by the Minister. This is important when one remembers the reason for the Bill, which is to provide a clearer legislative basis for the powers of the Minister to grant temporary release. The approach used introduces and defines the...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Temporary Release of Prisoners) Bill 2001: Committee Stage. (15 Oct 2003)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I assume that the intention of this amendment is to provide that, within a certain overall time period – I am not sure how or in what circumstances this would be determined – a prisoner can be granted specific periods, or blocks, of temporary release. Presumably, the Senator is referring to cases where temporary release is granted for specific hours each day and for a specific number of...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Temporary Release of Prisoners) Bill 2001: Committee Stage. (15 Oct 2003)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I assume the purpose of the Senator's amendments is to gender-proof this particular Bill. All new legislation is now gender-proofed in that it always refers to "he or she". Where the purpose of the legislation is to amend older legislation, such as in this case, amendments are drafted in the same gender as the original Act. This is the particular issue highlighted by the amendment. The...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Temporary Release of Prisoners) Bill 2001: Committee Stage. (15 Oct 2003)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The Department is embarking on a programme for the consolidation of the entire criminal law, which will be dealt with on a gender-proofed basis because it will be a consolidation of the entire corpus of criminal law. It will afford the Department the opportunity of gender-proofing many of the older enactments which were not gender-proofed at the time. As I said in my initial reply, all new...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Temporary Release of Prisoners) Bill 2001: Committee Stage. (15 Oct 2003)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The amendment provides for a person to be allowed temporary release to an enforcement authority other than the Garda and for a person to be made available to foreign law enforcement authorities. The Garda Síochána has overall responsibility in this jurisdiction for the prevention, detection and investigation of offences. This amendment would only serve to add confusion to that. The Garda,...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Temporary Release of Prisoners) Bill 2001: Committee Stage. (15 Oct 2003)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I take the Senator's explanation of the intention and thinking behind the amendment. I take it that the Senator is not opening the wider question of the removal from the jurisdiction of a prisoner for questioning. However, on the narrow question, the Garda Síochána is the primary investigative authority in the State. Furthermore, some investigative authorities, such as the Office for...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Temporary Release of Prisoners) Bill 2001: Committee Stage. (15 Oct 2003)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: As I indicated on Second Stage, I have considerable sympathy with the proposed amendment and I said I would look forward to it with interest. There are difficulties with this matter, however, because when we talk about the interests of the victim in the criminal justice system, the person who is convicted and sentenced for an offence has a definitive sentence imposed upon them. In imposing...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Temporary Release of Prisoners) Bill 2001: Committee Stage. (15 Oct 2003)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: This legislation entrusts a grave and fundamental power in the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. He would be a foolish man if he did not consult with the Garda Síochána or the victim. That is not the issue here. Victims make representations to the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform. The Minister makes the most minute inquiries, particularly in the case of serious...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Temporary Release of Prisoners) Bill 2001: Committee Stage. (15 Oct 2003)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The granting of temporary release is not a right but a privilege for which a person serving a term of imprisonment can apply and which is granted at the discretion of the Minister. The amendment tabled by the Deputy provides that the Minister should have regard to representations made by the prisoner or on behalf of the prisoner. The former is already dealt with under the current system. The...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Temporary Release of Prisoners) Bill 2001: Committee Stage. (15 Oct 2003)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Having disagreed with Senator Terry about the position of the victim I now have to disagree with Senator Tuffy about the position of the prisoner. The Bill deals with what is viewed by us in the Oireachtas as a privilege, not a right. It is not a right to apply for temporary release. We would send out the wrong signal if we were to so legislate. If Senator Tuffy's amendment was accepted, it...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Temporary Release of Prisoners) Bill 2001: Committee Stage. (15 Oct 2003)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The advice from the Parliamentary Counsel is that the reference to health and humanitarian grounds, which are referred to in the amended section, is sufficient to cover this issue. As was indicated on Committee Stage in the Dáil, the Office of the Parliamentary Counsel has advised that caution must be exercised on the grounds contained in section 2(3)(a). That subsection requires the...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Temporary Release of Prisoners) Bill 2001: Committee Stage. (15 Oct 2003)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I would be much more comfortable standing with what is already in the text of the Bill, where circumstances exist that in the opinion of the Minister justify a temporary release on grounds of health or other humanitarian grounds. Clearly age is comprehended in "other humanitarian grounds". I would be unhappy about further defining other humanitarian grounds to include age, because such a...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Temporary Release of Prisoners) Bill 2001: Committee Stage. (15 Oct 2003)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: What is proposed by the Minister is already comprehended in section 2(1), which provides that the Minister may direct that "such person as is specified in the direction shall be released from prison for such a temporary period and subject to such conditions as may be specified in the direction". Inherent in the practice in this area has always been the attachment of conditions for the...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Temporary Release of Prisoners) Bill 2001: Committee Stage. (15 Oct 2003)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I am satisfied on that. In fact, without appearing to criticise the Senator in any way, I suggest that were we to accept this amendment which spells out particular types of condition which can be imposed by the Minister, we might trammel his power and ingenuity in imposing conditions in appropriate cases. It is, for example, the view of the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform that...