Maurice Hayes (Independent)

I welcome this Bill, partly for the opportunity it presents to pay tribute to the Defence Forces' fine peacekeeping record across the world, the credit they have brought to this country and what appears from the outside to be their generally high level of discipline and behaviour. The Minister will be relieved to hear that I speak from a position of profound ignorance of the subject and I am grateful to Senator Minihan for the insights he has offered on how the system operates.

I would like to link the points raised by Senator Dardis with the efforts made earlier by Senator Mansergh to demystify the loaded terms used when discussing this subject and to emphasise civilian processes to symbolise the change in the status of military personnel in a democratic society. I am anxious that human rights norms are respected in these matters. We ask soldiers to risk their lives to ensure the democratic rights of others, so the least we can offer them are the standards they are being asked to defend. Irrespective of the system introduced, the right of soldiers to be treated as similarly to civilians as possible should be upheld, and they should be given full access to the protections offered in the Charter of Fundamental Rights and the European Court of Human Rights. In that regard, why is it necessary to try a soldier accused of rape in a military court rather than a civilian one? I acknowledge, however, the arguments made by Senator Dardis regarding crimes committed in countries which sanction the death penalty. No soldier should be allowed to face any court or process in which the protections and penalties are not commensurate with those offered by Irish courts.

I welcome the appointment of a director of courts martial and related officers. Appointees are required to be solicitors or barristers of ten years' standing, although I note they can be deemed to have been practising if they have had a job which required similar qualifications. That is a somewhat diluting provision, however, because the people acting in this capacity should be au fait with the ordinary criminal and civil courts so that separate standards are not developed. I wonder if there are sufficient personnel in the Defence Forces to fill this explosion of appointments or whether a civilian barrister or solicitor will have to be commissioned as an officer.