Willie O'Dea (Limerick East, Fianna Fail)

It does not weaken it in any way, it is simply the way the indictment in this case is formulated. Article 30.3 of the Constitution provides that if an ordinary criminal offence is being prosecuted on indictment it is to be done in the name of the people and at the suit of the Attorney General — that was changed to the DPP in 1974. We have the option — this has been vetted by the Attorney General and we have legal advice on the matter — of simply stating that the director of military prosecutions will prosecute an offence under military law in his own name. It does not lessen it in any way and it does not make any practical difference, it is simply the way the indictment is formulated.

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