Results 1,661-1,680 of 29,533 for speaker:Brendan Howlin

International Criminal Court Bill 2003: Report Stage. (9 May 2006)

Brendan Howlin: It seems a very conservative interpretation of the statute. I understood from Deputy Gerard Murphy that what is at stake here is that Ireland would not recognise an amnesty of a third country if there was an application concerning an ICC offence committed in Ireland or if the person to be apprehended was within the Irish jurisdiction. Is the Minister of State suggesting that any third state...

International Criminal Court Bill 2003: Report Stage. (9 May 2006)

Brendan Howlin: I am getting more confused. We are not discussing diplomatic immunity, which is a concept also covered in the legislation. The amendment highlights that a state could grant a pardon or an amnesty to a non-diplomat, which would strike at the heart of the notion of an international law system and which would prevent individual states from protecting citizens who committed heinous crimes from...

International Criminal Court Bill 2003: Report Stage. (9 May 2006)

Brendan Howlin: I note that the Minister's amendment and that tabled in my name are identical. He has accepted the argument put forward by my colleague on Committee Stage and I welcome that. It seems appropriate that the forfeiture under the Proceeds of Crime Act 1996 should be included in the list.

International Criminal Court Bill 2003: Report Stage. (9 May 2006)

Brendan Howlin: Is the Deputy suggesting that it is being politicised?

International Criminal Court Bill 2003: Report Stage. (9 May 2006)

Brendan Howlin: Then the Deputy should make that charge.

International Criminal Court Bill 2003: Report Stage. (9 May 2006)

Brendan Howlin: It seems there is a very compelling case to include the definition. The notion that we might be a little bit ahead of the posse or more progressive or advanced — God forbid — is a very lame excuse for not doing something the international community is on the way to doing, that is, amending international treaties by consensus. If other countries, such as Brazil, can adopt the measure in...

International Criminal Court Bill 2003: Report Stage. (9 May 2006)

Brendan Howlin: That is not true.

International Criminal Court Bill 2003: Report Stage. (9 May 2006)

Brendan Howlin: Of course we can.

International Criminal Court Bill 2003: Report Stage. (9 May 2006)

Brendan Howlin: This is a very peculiar way of creating legislation. I was not party to the discussions on Committee Stage but I welcome the fact that the Minister of State has reflected on the Bill since then. There is no difficulty with the repeal of the Genocide Act and its reinstatement in its entirety in a different legislative form if that was intended. It is very unusual that the Minister of State...

International Criminal Court Bill 2003: Report Stage. (9 May 2006)

Brendan Howlin: Can the Minister of State explain that further?

International Criminal Court Bill 2003: Report Stage. (9 May 2006)

Brendan Howlin: That happens all the time with consolidation legislation.

International Criminal Court Bill 2003: Report Stage. (9 May 2006)

Brendan Howlin: I am no wiser after that explanation.

International Criminal Court Bill 2003: Report Stage. (9 May 2006)

Brendan Howlin: I think it is not intended. The substance of the response by the Minister of State is that he is doing so because he was advised to do so. It is a clumsy way of doing this and one which makes matters difficult for people to comprehend. There is an obligation on us to make legislation, particularly that which deals with our international obligations and a statute to which we are party...

International Criminal Court Bill 2003: Report Stage. (9 May 2006)

Brendan Howlin: No problem. Please bear with me.

International Criminal Court Bill 2003: Report Stage. (9 May 2006)

Brendan Howlin: I have no difficulty with the convention. This House created the crime of genocide in 1973. The Minister of State wishes to maintain that obligation on us in subsection 7(3). He says subsection (2), which repeals the Genocide Act 1973, is without prejudice to the State's obligations under the Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide adopted by the General Assembly...

International Criminal Court Bill 2003: Report Stage. (9 May 2006)

Brendan Howlin: The Ceann Comhairle allowed a little latitude to deal with such matters.

International Criminal Court Bill 2003: Report Stage. (9 May 2006)

Brendan Howlin: Perhaps the Leas-Cheann Comhairle might allow me to finish this point, which is important. We are dealing with a dozen important amendments.

International Criminal Court Bill 2003: Report Stage. (9 May 2006)

Brendan Howlin: In plain English, is the Minister of State saying that repeal of the 1973 Act does not mean repeal of the Schedule thereto? That is simply wrong. If one repeals the Act, the Schedule falls with it.

International Criminal Court Bill 2003: Report Stage. (9 May 2006)

Brendan Howlin: This is my final contribution on this matter. It is for simple reading in the Schedule. The repeal of the 1973 Act effected by subsection (2) is without prejudice to the State's obligations adopted by the convention, the text of which is set out in the 1973 Act. Simpliciter, where will one find the text once the 1973 Act has been repealed? That is the simple issue. I am not talking about...

International Criminal Court Bill 2003: Report Stage. (9 May 2006)

Brendan Howlin: I move amendment No. 15: In page 12, line 9, to delete "commencement of this section" and substitute "passing of this Act". I am wary of agreeing to these new groupings after the difficulty of trying to take a broad range of matters together. However, this matter is fairly simple. The Minister made the point on Committee Stage that there is no commencement order in this Bill, since it...