Seanad debates
Tuesday, 24 June 2003
Offences Against the State (Amendment) Act 1998: Motion.
The rest of the sections with which we are dealing have been used in the reporting period. Section 2 provides that in any proceedings against a person for membership of an unlawful organisation, where evidence is given that the accused, when questioned, failed to answer or gave false or misleading answers to any question material to the investigation of the offence, the court may draw such inferences from that failure or from the furnishing of a false or misleading reply as appears proper. This provision has been used on many occasions in questioning persons arrested on suspicion of being members of an unlawful organisation. Charges do not result in every case in which the provision is used but since 23 March 2002 the section has been used on 43 occasions. In cases in which this section was used, six persons were convicted during the period under report after being charged prior to that period.
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