Eugene Regan (Fine Gael)

I welcome the introduction of this Bill and thank the Minister of State for presenting it to the House today. The Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2010 deals with two amendments to the Criminal Law (Insanity) Act 2006, namely, the fitness to be tried mechanism introduced in the 2006 Act and the lacuna in the law identified in a series of High Court cases. It is important and urgent that we address these matters.

On the first issue in terms of fitness to be tried, the Bill deals with issues identified in the Irish courts and, in particular, the European Court of Human Rights in regard to the need for the accused to be able to participate in the trial of the action. Article 6.1 of the European Convention on Human Rights provides for the right of a fair hearing in respect of a criminal charge and Article 6.3 sets out the various minimum rights for anyone charged with a criminal offence. An example is the Stanford v. United Kingdom where the applicant claimed he had not received a fair trial as he was unable to hear the proceedings. The T&V v. United Kingdom, the Thompson and Venables, case also raises this type of issue.

The Bill deals with the question of fitness to stand trial and with the issue of specialised medical evidence to be brought to bear in all cases resulting in psychiatric detention and for some time to determine the issue of fitness to stand trial, which should not be determined peremptorily without the ability of the parties to bring evidence to the court, in particular psychiatric evidence. The second major element is that of conditional discharge, a matter of certain urgency, in that the review board's directions do not have binding force under the current legislation. While the board has been operational for two years and has the power to make recommendations in terms of future care, in particular in an out-patient capacity, it does not have the power to make these recommendations binding. The judgment of Mr. Justice Hanna in the J.B. v. The Mental Health (Criminal Law) Review Board highlighted the problem that can arise in this type of case. I welcome that the Bill addresses this problem in sections 6 and 7. Section 6, which provides that any conditions imposed by the board, whether for further detention, care or treatment in a designated centre or for post-discharge supervision, will henceforth be binding, deals with that anomaly. Section 7 deals with the specific point raised by Mr. Justice Hanna in regard to conditional discharge orders being tailored to the requirements of the patient. I welcome the Bill, the passage of which will receive the support of Fine Gael.