Joanna Tuffy (Labour)

I move amendment No. 8:

In page 18, subsection (4), line 7, to delete "with" and substitute the following:

"and the court shall, unless it sees sufficient reason to the contrary, give".

This amendment is necessary for constitutional reasons. As the section stands, a criminal court would be obliged in all circumstances to give liberty to re-enter were the proceedings postponed in favour of a request from the International Criminal Court. This could cause serious interference with the independence of the Judiciary, where, for example, a judge could take the view that by reason of excessive delay any further adjournment would be contrary to the constitutional rights of the accused.

As a result, some measure of discretion is necessary to save the section from being struck down as unconstitutional. We are providing this discretion by means of this amendment. On Committee Stage in the Dáil I understand the Minister indicated that the court has an inherent jurisdiction, but we believe the Bill does not state this.