Richard Bruton (Dublin North Central, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

The Chief Parliamentary Counsel has advised that there is a difficulty with the constitutionality of the provisions. As drafted, the legislation allows the prosecution to prove all the ingredients of the offence by way of statements in a document. The prosecution would not be required to call witnesses and, consequently, the defence would have no opportunity to cross-examine, which is a fundamental requirement of proceedings in dealing with an offence. As a result, section 47 is to be replaced and a modified version of the provision is proposed as an amendment to section 75 of the Bill. The modified provision will result in a new subsection being inserted into section 21 of the Industrial Relations Act 1946. That section created an offence of a failure to appear before the Labour Court on foot of a summons to so appear. As originally drafted, section 47 would have allowed the prosecution to prove all of the ingredients of the offence in question by way of statements in a document. The prosecution would not be required to call witnesses and, consequently, the defence would have no opportunity to cross-examine, which is a fundamental requirement of proceedings in dealing with an offence. That is the background.

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