Clare Daly (Dublin North, United Left) | Oireachtas source

Draconian law never makes society safer and the "war on terror" has not brought us any nearer to world peace.

In fact, it has destabilised the situation beyond anything we experienced previously. The Minister acknowledged that gangland and dissident activities, as they are described, have not been curtailed by the draconian legislation already on the Statute Book. If she wants to deal with the root cause of gangland and organised crimes, she will have to tackle the social issues that cause them. If she wants to deal with terrorist activities, she will have to deal with the conditions that breed them, including the very difficult conditions in our prisons. The State has opted for a knee-jerk reaction by taking an anti-democratic and anti-human rights stance on curtailing democratic rights. It is never acceptable to curtail democratic rights. Trial by jury is a fundamental human right as far as I am concerned. It is an entitlement of every citizen and it backs up the principle of innocence until proven guilty.

Earlier this year I was involved in a case whereby a conviction from the Special Criminal Court was overturned in the Court of Criminal Appeal. A young man, Sean Farrell, who was a cabinet maker from Crumlin, was convicted under section 3(2) of the Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1972, which states: "Where an officer of the Garda Síochána, not below the rank of Chief Superintendent, in giving evidence in proceedings relating to an offence under the said section 21, states that he believes that the accused was at a material time a member of an unlawful organisation, the statement shall be evidence that he was then such a member." It is unbelievable that hearsay evidence which cannot be cross-examined could be acceptable in a court. If the evidence has been gathered, it should be examined in open court before a jury of the defendant's peers. In fact, this reveals a lack of confidence in An Garda Síochána. If gardaí were not policing residents in Corrib, they might be able to tackle the gangs who are causing some of these difficulties. The only justification put forward is the idea of jury intimidation, which has not happened and for which different measures have been put in place in other jurisdictions. This is an unfair, unjust, undemocratic and anti-human rights provision, which any right thinking citizen would oppose. It is also ineffective and costly.

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