Results 4,301-4,320 of 18,728 for speaker:Michael McDowell
- Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (24 Apr 2007)
Michael McDowell: I am always in favour of codifying general law of this kind one way or the other. I am not sure I agree with every single detail in this amendment and I am not in a position to accept it today.
- Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (24 Apr 2007)
Michael McDowell: To some extent this proposal is a statement of current law.
- Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (24 Apr 2007)
Michael McDowell: The practice. I would be loathe to incorporate that into law without thinking about it very carefully. The current practice allows flexibility and where facts are not really in dispute, there is no need to have primary evidence consisting of defence lawyers stating their client is a certain age, his family is a certain size or his employment history is this way or that. If this was...
- Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (24 Apr 2007)
Michael McDowell: We have also discussed this at great length and my position is fairly clear.
- Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (24 Apr 2007)
Michael McDowell: I move amendment No. 50: In page 20, between lines 20 and 21, to insert the following: 24.â(1) In this Partâ "imprisonment" includesâ (a) detention in Saint Patrick's Institution, (b) detention in a place provided under section 2 of the Prisons Act 1970, and (c) detention in a place specified under section 3 of the Prisons Act 1972, and "prison" and "sentence of imprisonment" shall be...
- Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (24 Apr 2007)
Michael McDowell: On Committee Stage I indicated I would look very carefully at this part of the Act to see precisely what we were trying to achieve and whether we had achieved it. We went through a radical revision in light of everything said in this House, having carefully listened to all the remarks made from every quarter. We have amended it to reflect what I believe is a consensus in this House on the...
- Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (24 Apr 2007)
Michael McDowell: Exactly. It will provide for the constitutional safety valve that exists in other areas as well. In particular, it ensures that the court can distinguish between gangland cases and other cases in which the convicted person may technically qualify to be treated in accordance with section 24, but where it would be disproportionate for him or her to be treated in such a manner. Such a...
- Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (24 Apr 2007)
Michael McDowell: I am speaking about amendment No. 168. The narrowing down ofââ
- Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (24 Apr 2007)
Michael McDowell: Yes.
- Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (24 Apr 2007)
Michael McDowell: Exactly. The Deputy made that point on a previous occasion. If a person who was sent to jail for offences involving organised crime knifes somebody to death in a prison cell, it would be absurd to take an approach to that murder which is different from the approach which would have been taken if a firearm or an explosive had been used.
- Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (24 Apr 2007)
Michael McDowell: Amendment No. 169 removes child trafficking and pornography offences, as well as offences involving trafficking in illegal immigrants, from the list of offences in Schedule 2. I recognise that the offences in question are serious and are often carried out in a highly organised manner, sometimes by those who are known as gangland figures. Such categories of offences do not feature...
- Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (24 Apr 2007)
Michael McDowell: I will see if I have a copy of it.
- Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (24 Apr 2007)
Michael McDowell: I have mentioned three of the provisions which are being removed. Amendment No. 170 provides for the deletion of the reference in paragraph 10 of Schedule 2 to "any offence under the Offences Against the State Acts 1939 to 1998". As I was anxious not to over-extend Schedule 2 and, bearing in mind that substantial powers are already provided for in the offences against the State legislation,...
- Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (24 Apr 2007)
Michael McDowell: Yes.
- Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (24 Apr 2007)
Michael McDowell: Yes. Paragraphs 10 and 14 of the Schedule are being removed in their entirety.
- Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (24 Apr 2007)
Michael McDowell: This is not an anti-terrorism Bill. These guidelines are being included to combat gangland activity rather than terrorism. We are broadening the terms of the reference to murder in paragraph 1 of Schedule 2 and we are removing paragraphs 3, 4, 10 and 14 of the Schedule.
- Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (24 Apr 2007)
Michael McDowell: As the Deputy will appreciate, a trafficking Bill is being prepared in the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. I do not want there to be all sorts of unforeseen sentencing consequences if I designate something to be a trafficking offence under that Bill. It is quite possible that a person from sub-Saharan Africa, for example, could be caught twice committing the reprehensible...
- Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (24 Apr 2007)
Michael McDowell: The robbery example disappeared when I removed the reference to burglaries. As I have indicated to the House, aggravated burglary can be committed at a low level on the spectrum of seriousness. It could arise if a person breaks into a house while carrying a spanner, for example.
- Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (24 Apr 2007)
Michael McDowell: That is why we are introducing the measure on disproportionality. A court can consider this and decide it is a guideline in respect of repeat or serious offences but, having regard to the quality of the second offence, it would be a disproportionate reaction to the particular offence committed.
- Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (24 Apr 2007)
Michael McDowell: That is what a flexible guideline means.