Results 14,221-14,240 of 18,736 for speaker:Michael McDowell
- Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed). (5 Apr 2007)
Michael McDowell: I move amendment No. 110: In page 32, lines 15 and 16, to delete "other than a child or young person" and substitute "other than a person under the age of 18 years".
- Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed). (5 Apr 2007)
Michael McDowell: I move amendment No. 113: In page 33, line 24, to delete "other than a child or young person" and substitute "other than a person under the age of 18 years".
- Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed). (5 Apr 2007)
Michael McDowell: I move amendment No. 114: In page 34, line 5, to delete "other than a child or young person" and substitute "other than a person under the age of 18 years".
- Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed). (5 Apr 2007)
Michael McDowell: As I said yesterday I appreciate the Deputies' point. There is jurisprudence, particularly in Canada, to the effect that it is possible to have proportionate mandatory sentences which, having regard to the value of the drugs, would be absolute and fixed. The downside of this as Deputy Howlin says, in a point with which I sympathise, is that it might be interpreted as saying this is a...
- Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed). (5 Apr 2007)
Michael McDowell: Yes, exactly. That is the issue. Assuming my advice is correct the question is whether it is an advance to bring it into law or if it will have an unpredicted counter-effect of making offences which are now serious less so. I want to reflect on that and to have an opportunity to consult with my colleagues in Government before making any change in the legislation on that point.
- Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed). (5 Apr 2007)
Michael McDowell: I stated yesterday evening that I wanted to reflect on it.
- Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed). (5 Apr 2007)
Michael McDowell: I will make it clear to Members what I will do in a fortnight and, therefore, they will have ample opportunity to call a division if they do not agree with what I propose on Report Stage.
- Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed). (5 Apr 2007)
Michael McDowell: I appreciate those comments but I have undertaken to listen to the debate. Just because I am listening to the debate does not mean I must instantly decide a point made is worth accepting.
- Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed). (5 Apr 2007)
Michael McDowell: The Deputy has indicated that he opposes this and other sections. He is not particularly worried about the board of the National Museum certifying firearms but, nonetheless, I get the message that he does not like Part 6. This section inserts a new subsection, which states: "The purpose of subsections (5) and (6) of this section is to provide that in view of the harm caused to society by the...
- Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed). (5 Apr 2007)
Michael McDowell: The first is related to possession with intent to endanger life.
- Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed). (5 Apr 2007)
Michael McDowell: Unless the legislation states the sentence should always be ten years, which has a constitutional implication on the advice of the Attorney General, a formula must be devised that allows the Judiciary to avoid a grossly disproportionate sentence, for instance, in a case where somebody was in temporary possession of a firearm out of sheer curiosity for 24 hours and was not involved in gangland...
- Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed). (5 Apr 2007)
Michael McDowell: Perhaps. There could be extraordinary circumstances but to have a firearm with intent to endanger life is a very serious offence. The norm should be a ten-year sentence and only in exceptional and specific circumstances should there be a departure from the ten-year norm. That is the intent of this section.
- Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed). (5 Apr 2007)
Michael McDowell: If the Deputy has a formulation that is preferable and constitutional, I would love to hear it but I must provide a safety valve constitutionally, which must take a statutory form. If I insert a laundry list relating to coercion, duress and so on, my worry is that I would leave something out and I would be told following an Article 26 reference that the Bill had collapsed.
- Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed). (5 Apr 2007)
Michael McDowell: "Specific" means they are specified.
- Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed). (5 Apr 2007)
Michael McDowell: The judge. It must be specific to the individual or the offence and it must be articulated by the judge why he is departing from the ten-year norm.
- Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed). (5 Apr 2007)
Michael McDowell: Possession of a firearm with intent to endanger life, possession of a firearm while hijacking a vehicle, possession of a firearm to resist arrest or to aid an escape, possession of a firearm in suspicious circumstances â that is the phrase used for possession of firearms in circumstances giving rise to the reasonable inference that one does not have them for a lawful purpose, which is a...
- Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed). (5 Apr 2007)
Michael McDowell: Yes. The remaining sections relate to possession of a firearm with criminal intent and altering a firearm such as sawing off a shotgun.
- Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed). (5 Apr 2007)
Michael McDowell: Section 38.
- Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed). (5 Apr 2007)
Michael McDowell: The Deputy always had army council authorisation.
- Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed). (5 Apr 2007)
Michael McDowell: It was not rushed but took two and a half years.