Results 881-900 of 16,537 for speaker:Brian Lenihan Jnr

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I take it the Senator is referring to the 2001 Act and to this legislation in referring to these inconsistencies. Of course, there is a fundamental distinction between this Bill and the 2001 Act. This Bill deals with persons who come before the courts and it provides a "regime", if I can use that somewhat sinister word, for them. The purpose of the 2001 Act is quite different and it deals...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The thinking behind these amendments relates to the point that the word "committed" carries a connotation that people might have known what they were doing when they committed the act giving rise to the offence. It could be argued the word "did" is more neutral in that regard and would be more appropriate for use in the Bill. The other reason is that the word "did" is used in the Bill. As the...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Senator Tuffy tabled an amendment on Committee Stage which is similar in terms to this amendment. The Minister noted that it raised an interesting point and said he would consider the matter further. Having reflected on Senator Tuffy's proposed amendment, the Minister is of the view that, as drafted, there is potential in section 3(8) for a court to conclude, without the benefit of a full...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I thank Senator Tuffy. In regard to what Senator Henry said, this Bill was initiated in the Seanad and I am prepared to look again at the issue she raised as to whether the protection of medical records is sufficient. The Minister used the phrase "where evidence is adduced before the court" and I envisage that in the general run of cases, that is exactly what has happened to the medical...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The point of departure is that the Minister has decided to slot this Bill and his definitions therein into the settled case law and the judicial decision on this branch of the law. The Minister may have erred but so did the Supreme Court in Doyle v. Wicklow County Council, in which the court incidentally approved the views of Mr. Justice Henchy in an earlier decision. The report which Mr....

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The Senator has availed of the opportunity to push a door which the Minister left somewhat ajar during the debate on Committee Stage. There was a suggestion, in what the Minister said, that a judge making a recommendation that someone in need of psychiatric inpatient treatment in the Prison Service should have regard to that. The Minister, having reflected on the matter, is not swayed in his...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Amendment No. 42 which was taken with amendment No. 31, which reduced the period of referral from 28 to 14 days, might meet the point of Senator Henry's amendment. Otherwise the Minister is opposed to the amendment for the reasons already stated in regard to amendments Nos. 22 and 30. If the consultant psychiatrist or the designated centre refuse to accept the person, what are the courts to do?

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Yes.

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The position is that the plea of diminished responsibility to which I referred in my last contribution, was introduced in United Kingdom law in the 1950s. This plea does not eliminate criminal liability; it reduces the conviction from a conviction for murder to a conviction for manslaughter. Murder carries with it a mandatory life sentence and for manslaughter the penalty is at the discretion...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: I do not think the construction the Senator has put on this is correct. The Minister mentioned on Committee Stage references in subsections (3), (5), (8) and (10) of this section to offences other than the offence charged. I presume this is what Senator Cummins is referring to. The Minister explained that this is to take account of cases where a person charged with one offence may be...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Yes, I am trying to assist the Senator.

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Senator Henry rightly says that an "approved medical officer" is defined as someone practising in the State because it imports the conditions set out in the definition of "consultant psychiatrist" in section 2 of the Mental Health Act 2001. Those conditions include a person who is employed by a health board or by an approved centre or whose name is entered in the division of psychiatry of the...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Yes.

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: That is dealt with separately. It does not affect the Mental Health Commission whatsoever. I refer to the body being established under this legislation. Government amendment No. 155 limits membership of that body to approved medical officers. Consultant psychiatrists, therefore, cannot obtain such an appointment.

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The Interpretation Act 1937 provides that the word "oath" in the case of a person for the time being allowed by law to affirm instead of swearing includes an affirmation. Under this legislation, therefore, affirmation applies wherever the word "oath" is used. The Minister consulted Parliamentary Counsel on these amendments and is satisfied there is no need to include the words "or...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The purpose of paragraph (b) is to provide for circumstances where a person is detained in a designated centre which is also a prison, something which is envisaged by the legislation. Prisons do not have clinical directors and, therefore, the duties and powers in section 12 are conferred on the governor as head of the prison. However, provision is made for appropriate advice to be provided to...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The Minister undertook on Committee Stage to propose a more appropriate wording than "disposal" on Report Stage. The Minister now proposes to substitute for the words "for the patient's disposal" the formula "as to how the patient should be dealt with". I hope Senators will find that acceptable.

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: In explaining the Government amendments, I may be able to assist the Senator to an extent. The substantive amendments being proposed by the Minister arise from concerns that have been expressed for some time, both at home and abroad, about the system of certification, decertification and transfer of persons detained for appropriate psychiatric treatment in the Central Mental Hospital. The...

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: Yes.

Seanad: Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002: Report and Final Stages. (19 Apr 2005)

Brian Lenihan Jnr: The earlier provisions cover that issue.