The Gazette 1989

GAZETTE INCORPORATE D LAWSOCIETY OF IRELAND Vol. 63 No. 12 December 1

GAZETTE

DECEMBER 1989

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Larceny Bill, 1989 - New offence of handling stolen property President's Column Annual Election 1989/90 Law Society Committees 1989/90 Irish Solicitors in London Bar Association A.G.M. Whiplash Practice Notes

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People and Places

Lawbrief

Status of Children born outside marriage and their Property Rights Part II

In a comprehensive report on Re- ceiving Stolen Property published in 1987, the Law Reform Commiss- ion stated:- "Our present law on Receiving is in many respects unnecessar- ily favourable to the accused, presents unreasonable obstacles to the prosecution and is seriously out of date . . . it also facilitates crimes of dishonesty over a wide area". The Larceny Bill 1989 is a direct response to this report. The prin- cipal changes incorporated in the Bill are the introduction of the new offence of dishonest handling of stolen property (following the English Theft Act 1968) and a refining of the necessary mens rea required for conviction. The Law Reform Commi ss i on Report perceived the present requirement, that an accused in order to be guilty of receiving must know the property to be stolen, to be the core of the problem. It advocated the concept of recklessness in its place. While the Government has not gone all the way with its recommendation, it now proposes that guilty knowledge shall com- prise "knowing or believing" and goes on to say in Section 3(2):- " Believing property to be stolen property includes thinking that such property was probably stolen property". Lawyers will rightly quibble with the retention of Section 43 of the Larceny Act 1916 in amended form which allows the prosecution to adduce evidence of previous con-

victions under the Larceny Act within the previous five years or evidence of possession of other stolen property within the previous 12 months. The Law Reform Com- mission recommended the repeal of this section. It is rarely if ever used and is probably open to constitu- tional challenge. The Bill contains a number of other proposals. It seeks to end the situation where a person accused of receiving can be acquitted by proving he was the thief, and now makes the possession of articles for the purpose of taking a car or stealing from one an offence. In addition it makes the handling of property stolen outside the juris- diction an offence here. The Larceny Bill 1989 introduces a number of necessary and wel- come reforms. There are now three Criminal Justice Bills before Dáil Éireann with more to follow. The manner in which Ray Burke T.D. has assumed the Office of Minister for Justice allows for cautious optim- ism. Having achnowledged the Government's gratitude to the Law Reform Commission will he now allow that body the resources necessary to carry out a compre- hensive review of our Criminal law? Finally one hopes that Mr. Burke will address the problems in our prisons. Years of neglect by suc- cessive governments have made these institutions profoundly in- human. Has he the energy and commitment to take the Whitaker Report off the shelf? • 419

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Book Reviews Correspondence

Professional Information

Cover Photo: Solicitors Benevolent Association Christ- mas Concert. Mrs. Nanette Ivers, Mezzo Soprano, with Ms. Marie Askin, Pianist.

* Executive Editor: Mary Gaynor Committee: Eamonn G. Hall, Chairman Michael V. O'Mahony, Vice-Chairman John F. Buckley Gary Byrne Patrick McMahon Charles R. M. Meredith Advertising: Seán Ó hOisín. Telephone: 305236 Fax: 307860 Printing: Turner's Printing Co. Ltd., Longford. * The views expressed in this publication, save where otherwise indicated, are the views of the contributors and not necessarily the views of the Council of the Society. The appearance of an advertisement in this publication does not necessarily indicate approval by the Society for the product or service advertised. Published at Blackhall Place, Dublin 7. Tel.: 710711. Telex: 31219. Fax: 710704. Daire Murphy John Schutte