Results 761-780 of 11,441 for speaker:Ivana Bacik

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I have already stated clearly on the record why I oppose the section. My concerns focus particularly on the proposed new subsections (1) to (3) of the proposed new section 71B of the 2006 Act, which relate to the opinion evidence of a garda as to the existence of a criminal organisation.

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2009)

Ivana Bacik: The Offences Against the State (Amendment) Act 1998.

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I record that I oppose this section. I support Senator Alex White's amendment, which is a sensible and proportionate response to the concerns the Minister expressed about potential jury intimidation. I support what Senator Alex White said about the need to show some evidence for that. We have not been given that sort of evidence. Given that we can accept that there are genuine concerns...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I wish to answer one point made by the Minister in which he quoted from the Hederman report on the issue of jury tampering. It is fair to point out that the Hederman committee went on to say that while the majority did agree with the retention of the Special Criminal Court, there was a significant minority view, expressed by Mr. Justice Hederman, the chair of the committee, Professor William...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I have already expressed my opposition to section 8 and I do not want to prolong this debate.

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I state my opposition to the section which purports to add a new section 72A to the Criminal Justice Act 2006 providing that inferences may be drawn from silence. I am conscious that there are a number of inference drawing provisions in the Offences Against the State Acts and in the Criminal Justice Act 2007. However, I am also conscious of the need for safeguards. On Second Stage, the...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I am conscious of the amendment to section 72A(7) but I was wondering whether the Minister had an answer on the point on consultation with a solicitor. I do not think that provision was changed and certainly I did not see any change to it between the initial version of the Bill and the Bill we have now. It seems that section 72A(2) remained the same and that all that is required is that a...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I want to speak briefly in support of this amendment. I declare an interest in that I have acted for the State in a number of cases involving a question of whether post-release matters are part of an offender's sentence or whether they are better characterised as civil orders consequent on conviction. Notably, with regard to the registration provisions under the Sex Offenders Act 2001,...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I move amendment No. 15: In page 22, lines 33 to 35, to delete all words from and including ", including" in line 33 down to and including "applicant)" in line 35. These six amendments relate to the same procedural principle the Minister is proposing to introduce, that is, the secret hearing as it has been colloquially called. The amendments represent my third main objection to the Bill, the...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I am grateful to the Minister for clarifying the nature of the detention powers with which we are dealing. These are all substantial detention powers. He has also confirmed that the power to detain a person for seven days pre-charge is now being extended to all organised crime offences under Part 7 of the 2006 Act. It is evidence of creeping changes in the criminal justice system. When...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I acknowledged that point earlier.

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I move amendment No. 16: In page 22, between lines 42 and 43, to insert the following: "(III) the person to whom the application relates and any legal representative (whether of that person or the applicant).".

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I move amendment No. 17: In page 23, to delete lines 42 to 46. These amendments are grouped together because they all seek to do the same thing with regard to three different detention powers in sections 21, 22 and 23. In all three cases, the amendments seek to delete the Minister's provision stating that no issue as to the lawfulness of the arrest or detention of the person may be raised at...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2009)

Ivana Bacik: I am grateful to the Minister for giving a little more detail. He referred to the Keating case in 1990, but I am aware of more recent cases. In the Bernie case - I was involved also in a related case - one of the reasons the Court of Criminal Appeal objected to a challenge to the jurisdiction of the Special Criminal Court was because the accused has not raised the point concerning the...

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2009)

Ivana Bacik: No, it is before being charged. We are concerned with the pre-charge period.

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2009)

Ivana Bacik: In response to Senator Walsh, who I think was seeking to attack me, although I am not sure, it is utterly wrong to start once again personalising the debate and suggesting that people who are raising valid issues-----

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2009)

Ivana Bacik: We are all equally outraged at the horrific murders of people such as Shane Geoghegan, Roy Collins and Wayne Doherty.

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2009)

Ivana Bacik: We all recognise that the rights of their families need to be protected.

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2009)

Ivana Bacik: We all share the goal of tackling gangland and organised crime. I have done a great deal of research-----

Seanad: Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2009: Committee and Remaining Stages (14 Jul 2009)

Ivana Bacik: -----and work on behalf of victims of crime and some of this work has fed into legislative change on behalf of victims of crime. I resent deeply any suggestion that those on this side of the House who raise valid criticisms of legislation before the House, which are not just technicalities, are somehow soft on crime or less concerned about victims' rights. I wish to put this on the record...