Results 4,341-4,360 of 18,761 for speaker:Michael McDowell

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 of——

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.

Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (24 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: They are like putty in my hands.

Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (24 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: We do.

Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (24 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: It covers heavy grade criminality.

Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (24 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: It is a good Victorian approach.

Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (24 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: The answer to that is "No".

Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (24 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: This is a replication of the existing basis of remission. We have a practice in this country——

Criminal Justice Bill 2007: Report Stage (Resumed) and Final Stage (24 Apr 2007)

Michael McDowell: The Deputy should allow me to answer. We have a practice in this country that one gets a quarter of one's sentence off. In the United Kingdom, it is one third off.