Michael McDowell (Dublin South East, Progressive Democrats)

I take the Deputy's reference to two way mirrors in his question to be to one-way mirrors. I did not think up that line — that came from one of my officials. Deputy Cuffe has a fan somewhere.

The process by which the identification of a suspect by a victim or witness occurs is an important part of the criminal justice process. Formal identification parades are the main way this information is tested prior to court. In this jurisdiction, there are no published statutory provisions governing the procedure to be followed in the conduct of an identity parade.

I am informed by the Garda authorities that instructions issued to every member of the Garda set out how, based on established best practice and case law precedent, a parade should be conducted. The current procedure used by the Garda was introduced following advice from the law officers. It involves each participant in an identity parade being assigned a number. To ensure there is no doubt as to the person the victim or witness has identified, it is necessary that a clear identification is made. This may be done in a number of ways, including pointing or stating the position or number of a person on the line-up or stating a number assigned to them. Prior to this the procedure necessitated the witness or victim placing their hand on the person as part of the identification process, which does not involve a one-way mirror.

The balance in the criminal law review group, which reported to me last month, noted that it was not clear that a change in the law was required to allow the use of one-way mirrors. The group favoured the concept of allowing an injured party to identify the suspect through a one way screen as far as practicable. I support this recommendation in principle and I am considering it with a view to determining how it should be implemented. Should dedicated rooms with galleries, lighting and so on be established? Should a portable screen be used, which could be transported between Garda stations? This involves logistics and resources exercises. If a mirror is placed in every Garda station, how often will it be used? Should mirrors be deployed on a divisional basis or would it be better to use a portable unit, which could permit a witness to identify somebody where he or she was being detained rather than bringing him or her to a station in which the one-way mirror system was in place?

Generally, I agree completely with the Deputy that it was unsatisfactory that victims were required to put their hands on somebody but that is no longer the case. They should not be brought into the person's presence but identity parades must be the subject of some formality and scrutiny because there is no point in bringing six small people and one large person in if a large person is the suspect. Somebody must observe what happens and there must be some degree of formality. The quality of an identity parade is hugely important to the reliability of the evidence in question. Bearing in mind existing law, which is quite circumspect about, and suspicious of, visual identification, it is all the more important that we get this right. I am grateful to the Deputy for raising the issue and I intend to progress it in the context of the report of the Hogan committee.

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