Jim Walsh (Fianna Fail)

I concur with the tenor of Senator Cummins's comments but I am not sure whether the specifics, as contained in these amendments, are necessary. I am, however, in favour of amendment No. 5, which provides that the time and date of expiration of a warrant should be endorsed on that warrant. This is important because there have been cases where warrants that were marginally out of date gave rise to situations where people escaped being prosecuted and brought to justice. Like Senator Cummins, I am concerned that individuals should not evade justice on the basis of technicalities.

I made the point on Second Stage that somewhere in legislation there should be the ability, whether at the behest of the DPP, the Garda or some other body, to make application to a judge to amend a warrant that includes some technical or administrative error. There should be some mechanism to allow for an amendment to be made even at the stage where the case in question has come to court. I understand that we must protect the rights of those who are charged with crimes. It is important to achieve a balance in this regard. However, it brings the entire system into disrepute when people evade prosecution on foot of technicalities. It is the job of solicitors to be clever in this regard and some specialise in preventing trials on the basis of technicalities. Some judges entertain such applications, while others apply common sense and override them.

There should be some legislative provision for the making of an application to amend a document where an administrative error of a technical nature, whether in regard to date, time, location or otherwise, was made. If such errors are found to recur at an unacceptable frequency because of tardy administration, judges will quickly recognise that and bring it to the attention of the relevant superintendent. There should be a general amendment somewhere in this or future legislation to take account of this issue.