The Gazette 1972

gathering in of evidence. With the legal caution, they

must warn a suspected person not to say anything that

might be incriminating. This rule, with all its nuances

and imperfections, is the most difficult obstacle in crime

detection, and has been a fecund source of legal argu-

ment before the Court of Criminal Appeal for many

years. There must surely be a case for its total abolition.

An innocent man is only too happy to avail of every

opportunity to proclaim and protest his innocence. The

caution may have had some validity in the days of

Bill Sykes and criminals of similar mental calibre; latter-

day criminals in the know can treat a police interrogation

with insolence. This is, of course, after they have got

over their initial surprise that the law is of such material

assistance to them.

Majority verdict of jury

So much for legal theory. To commence commenting

on the practice side would take a long time, but there

is one very overdue legal reform necessary, and that is

to make a jury verdict a majority decision of 10 votes

to 2 to replace the unanimity rule. Such a provision was

included in a Criminal Justice Bill, but has not yet

reached the Statute book. Apart from all other forceful

arguments for the change, th?re is the added value of

it enabling juries to take in verdicts of guilty in unpopu-

lar political cases where juries have to take into account

possible threats and intimidation. If the 10-2 rule was

law, then an accused and his cohorts would not know

who the dissenters were.

The Special Criminal Court

Lastly a comment must be made on the operation of

the Special Criminal Court as now established in this

country. It must be regarded as a success, as it has dealt

swiftly and effectively with a national crisis, but has

also preserved two of the fundamental principles of the

criminal law—the accused has been given a fair trial,

and justice has been done. The time taken to have an

accused brought to trial is speeded up considerably,

and in this country it has worked wonders for the

morale of the Garda Siochana who have had some

frustrating experiences with reluctant juries. Indeed it

can he suggested that other countries still operating

the English legal system could well introduce such

Courts to deal with very serious national problems,

such as drug traffic crimes. For countries like the United

Kingdom and the U.S.A. such a Court would be a

very small price to pay for the efficient control and

punishment of people transgressing the drug traffic laws,

from which so much other crime emanates.

Local Authority Solicitors' Association

The annual general meeting of the Association was held

on Friday, 10th March 1972, at the Solicitors' Buildings,

Four Courts, Dublin.

he following officers were elected:

Chairman,

Michael J. Leech;

Secretary /Treasurer,

Dermot Loftus;

Committee,

Messrs Timothy Murphy, Peter A. Fitz-

patrick, Donal M. King, Henry Murray and William

Dundon.

Tributes were paid to the former Chairman of the

Association, the late Mr. Dermod M. F. Walsh, Law

Agent, Dublin Corporation, and the meeting adjourned

for an interval as a mark of respect. In proposing a

vote of sympathy to the relatives of the late Mr. Walsh

and also to the Dublin City and County Manager, Mr.

William Dundon said that not alone had the Association

lost a loyal colleague, but that the legal profession as a

whole would be much the poorer at Mr. Walsh's death.

Following the annual general meeting a seminar was

held, during the course of which papers on the following

subjects were given :

(a) "Sales under Section 90 of the Housing Act, 1966,

and the effect of the Housing (Loan Charges Contri-

bution and Management) Regulations, 1967, Thereon"

by William Dundon, City Solicitor, Limerick.

(b) "The Implications of the Decision in Listowel

U.D.C. v. MacDonagh (105 I.L.T.R. 99)" by Timothy

Murphy, County Solicitor, Kerry.

Agent, Dun Laoghaire Corporation.

(d) A talk on "Land Acquisition Problems" was

given jointly by Brendan Kiernan, B.L., Legal Adviser,

Department of Local Government, and Michael Mur-

phy, B.L., Assistant Legal Adviser, Department of Local

Government.

•Continued from page 232

Rules which would help the defence are :

(1) Greater freedom to attack prosecution witnesses

without risking the introduction in evidence of previous

convictions. These would only be admissible if the main

purpose of the imputation was to challenge the wit-

ness's credibility. The defendant could therefore safely

allege that evidence had been planted on him.

(2) Any burden of proof on the defendant (for in-

stance to prove his insanity) would be discharged if

pioved on a balance of probabilities rather than beyond

a reasonable doubt.

(3) A warning that the jury should always be told of

the danger of acting on uncorroborated evidence where

the prosecution's case is based wholly or mainly on

identification evidence.

Proposals such as the wider admissibility of hearsay

evidence and the abolition of sworn evidence for chil-

dren under fourteen could help either side.

The Guardian

(30th June 1972)

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