The Gazette 1972

EDITORIAL

The Jurisdiction of the Supreme Court We are once more indebted to the Committee of Court Practice and Procedure for their 11th Interim Report on the Jurisdiction and Practice of the Supreme Court. This valuable report was presented to the then Minister for Justice, Mr. Moran, in March 1970, but there has been a lengthy delay of two years before it has been printed. It is an excellent idea that, by consent, all constitutional issues concerning the constitutionality of legislation initiated in the High Court should be deter- mined by the Supreme Court and that the Supreme Court should broadly be given jurisdiction to determine on a compulsory consultative case stated to it by the District or Circuit Court any constiutional issue that may arise. One of the weaknesses of the Constitution imposed by an amendment in 1941 to the effect that only one judgment could be pronounced in certain constitutional cases is rightly criticised by the Com- mittee who have wisely recommended that, in the inter- ests of fairness and invaluable jurisprudence every Judge should be entitled to give his own opinion freely Undoubtedly copies of Supreme Court judgments, which form the basis of contemporary Irish jurispru- dence, should be made available to the public at a reasonable cost. This is a public service, and the objec- tionable principle that high charges for judgments should prevail in order that the costs of the service should show a profit is to be condemned. The Criminal Law Revision Committee One can only view with consternation the alleged pro- posals which are supposed to be contained in a forth- coming report of the English Criminal Law Revision Committee. It is proposed to abolish the caution, by which the police warn persons that they need not say anything, but if they do, it may be taken down in writing, and used in evidence against them; this is an essential safeguard for the ignorant population who form the vast majority of suspects. By abolishing the caution, it is obvious that the police can induce most persons by pressures to incriminate themselves. There is little doubt that the proposal to admit general evidence of previous convictions before the jury is dangerous, as it may induce the police to pressurise anyone whom they do not like to plead guilty if necessary to trumped- up offences. The average accused will be deterred by all this apparatus in Court from defending himself properly if not given legal aid. This may seem exag- gerated, but the number of cases with which police are charged with fraud and ill-treatment of persons in custody is constantly increasing. The manner in which the Judge's Rules and the rules of evidence are ignored by the English police is frightening. contempt, for doing so. The speeches from the dock, which achieved such notoriety in Irish history, are about to disappear. This proposal appears to savour of the Star Chamber system. It is fortunate that in Ireland the accused can ultimately rely on the Constitution if his rights are infringed, and not be subject to the inexcusable alterations in the law proposed by Lord Justice Davies and his colleagues. One cannot forget that this same Judge proudly imposed deliberately vindictive and retributive sentences in some criminal trials which appear to have achieved little useful pur- pose. There should obviously be a standard sentence f° r all crimes, even aggravated ones, and no Judge should be in a position to impose his purely personal preju- dices One can only view with scepticism the advice ten- dered by the English Lord Chancellor to lay magi 5 ' trates to be as severe as possible, and that if necessary they would be put right by a higher Court; this is the gravest distortion of the notion of justice. One must also view with suspicion the proposed changes in the law of evidence which the Irish Minister of Justice proposes to introduce, particularly as he was careful not to give particulars. It is also proposed that in future the accused should be required to go into the witness box, where he could refuse to answer questions, and not be punishable for

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