Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I am slightly perplexed that we are here having the same debate we have year in, year out. Reviews of the Special Criminal Court have been carried out. In 2002 the committee to review the Special Criminal Court, headed by former Supreme Court judge and former Attorney General, Mr. Justice Hederman, reported. The majority in that found that the Special Criminal Court violated the normal rules of evidence, in particular with the opinion evidence of a chief justice being effectively unchallengeable. The whole idea of courts is that everything is tested and tried and that nobody has a monopoly on wisdom and nobody, not even a chief superintendent, is absolutely correct. The biggest problem I have with the Special Criminal Court is the fact that a trial cannot be challenged and that the DPP just directs that a trial be held before the Special Criminal Court. That has been resoundingly criticised internationally. I note that Deputy Jim O'Callaghan said that many countries do not have trial by jury and that is indeed the case. Nevertheless, once decisions that affect somebody's rights are made, people can challenge them in almost every country in the world. In Ireland, however, people cannot challenge decisions of the DPP to direct that they be tried before the Special Criminal Court. That was criticised in 2000 by the UN Human Rights Committee, a committee that oversees criminal justice systems, some of which do not have trial by jury. That is the essential difference.

I was very surprised that Lisa Smith was tried in the Special Criminal Court. The idea that Islamic State could subvert a trial in Ireland I find either farcical or deeply worrying - take your pick. Neither is a vindication of the current system. Is Islamic State so prevalent in Ireland that the Garda cannot counter the threat it poses, or is it simply farcical to suggest that Islamic State could subvert a trial in this State? I think it is the latter. Of course, it is non-challengeable.

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