Barry Ward (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I move amendment No. 8:

In page 15, to delete lines 16 and 17.

Section 12(2)(b) states that a judge may provide specific documents or audio recordings of statements made in the course of a trial to the jury at the time of its deliberations. That includes a transcript of the opening speeches of counsel, a transcript of the whole or any part of evidence given in the trial, a transcript of the closing speeches and a transcript of the judge's charge. There is a case to be made for the importance of the second and fourth of those, that is, the evidence and the judge's charge, as they might benefit a jury in reaching its decision. However, the other documents referred to are the opening and closing statements of counsel. It is important to remember that opening statements are almost invariably only made by the prosecution. In the context of the closing statements made by both sides, such statements are not evidence. They are the opinions of the lawyers. They are the strategies and language lawyers use to convince the jury of one side of the argument or another but they are not evidence. I have a significant problem with the notion that a jury might be allowed to return to the jury room and have with it the arguments of either side, rather than the evidence their oath requires them to consider. That is why I suggest that subparagraphs (i) and (iii) be removed from section 12(2)(b).