David Cullinane (Sinn Fein)

I welcome the Minister to the House for the second time in 24 hours, as Senator Bacik has acknowledged. I acknowledge the serious nature of organised crime in the State. The pain that organised crime causes for individuals, communities, families and those who are the victims of organised crime, gun and drug crime is severe. Disadvantaged areas suffer from a higher incidence of such crimes. However, this is no excuse nor can it be an excuse for abuses of human rights. We could, potentially, create further unjustified suffering and damage to families. The Criminal Justice (Amendment) Act is wide open to abuse. Each year, Senators and Deputies in the Dáil vote unquestioningly to reduce their own rights and undercut their right to a fair trial. I call on Senators to reflect on this. Senator Bacik referred to rubber-stamping legislation. Oireachtas Members have been rubber-stamping for far too long and that is wrong. We should reflect on the reality of what this does.

Often, there is a false dichotomy which underpins the argument for these powers to be extended and often it is repeated by those who support the extension of the powers. The argument holds that there are the rights of the criminal on the one hand and the rights of the victim on the other and it is about the difference between the two. I am entirely in favour of increasing the rights of the victim. However, people should not mistake the rights of the accused as anything else because the accused is innocent until proven guilty. That must be the basis for any criminal justice system.

When emergency powers are brought in, they are difficult to get rid of. Senator Bacik posed the question about the logic of extending this given how seldom and infrequently the powers have been used. This is a telling point when one reflects on how often the powers have been used, yet we are being asked to extend the powers for another year.

The Criminal Justice (Amendment) Act is the affirmation that the Special Criminal Court is a normal part of our legal system. It is a damning indictment of our system that we have an emergency court which was supposed to be set up to deal with emergencies but which has now become a normal or permanent feature of our criminal justice system.

I am somewhat familiar with the legal system, with the great potential that exists for miscarriages of justice and where the usual safeguards are applied poorly, compromised or dropped entirely. We are familiar with cases such as those of Dean Ryan, Meleady and Grogan, the DPP v. Pringle and, famously, the Birmingham Six and the Guildford Four. The Act provides for the wholesale dropping of safeguards in respect of the right to silence and in terms of the right to a jury trial. This is anti-democratic, dangerous and corrodes the Minister's right and our right to a fair trial.

This is a human rights issue. The right to a fair trial is guaranteed under Article 38 of the Constitution and under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights. There is a growing consensus outside this Chamber that the Special Criminal Court should be done away with. The Irish Council for Civil Liberties and the UN Human Rights Committee have express concern at its continuing existence. As in another case yesterday, the report published by the Minister is grossly insufficient for the purposes of scrutiny. Not even the false rationale offered yesterday by the Minister that we are using the legislation often so it must be necessary could be offered up in this situation, as was pointed out earlier. That defence does not stand up to scrutiny.

No cases have been sent to the Special Criminal Court on foot of section 8. The section has been used 72 times in the past 12 months. Of these 72 cases, four have faced charges but none has come to the Special Criminal Court. There is limited utilisation and the rate of utilisation to charges is appalling, never mind convictions. Is this being used for trawling, for picking people up and questioning them as an information gathering exercise? I call on Members to reflect again on what we are being asked to do.

Senator Bacik referred to next year. If we arrive at a situation next year where again these powers have not been used extensively, if at all, then perhaps we should consider the matter in 12 months time. I see no reason we should do that or why we should surrender our rights. People are entitled to a fair trial by jury. This is a fundamental human rights issue. It should underpin the criminal justice system and justice must be at the heart of any criminal justice system. For this reason I oppose the extension and the proposal brought forward by the Minister.