236 / 462
GAZETTE
N W
JULY/AUGUST 1992
E
s
Cr iminal Ev idence Bill
Be c omes Law this Month
The Criminal Evidence Bill, 1992, at
present being considered by the
Oireachtas, is one of the most
radical pieces of legislation in the
area of criminal procedure and
evidence to be introduced since the
foundation of the State. The Bill has
been given a high priority by the
Government and is expected to
become law by the end of July.
The Criminal Law Committee
prepared a detailed submission on
the Bill to the Department of
Justice. The Committee also met
officials of the Department, when all
aspects of the Bill were discussed.
The Department has accepted some
of the points made by the
Committee and these have been
reflected in amendments moved in
Dáil Éireann by the Minister of State
at the Department of Justice,
Willie
O'Dea.
However, a number of
objections raised by the Committee
have not been accepted. The purpose
of this article is to make members of
the profession aware of the major
changes envisaged by the Bill, and of
the position adopted by the
Committee.
The Bill itself runs to some 29
Sections. Accordingly, it would not
be appropriate to cover every aspect
of the Bill in this article. Indeed,
many aspects of the Bill are quite
uncontroversial and are to be greatly
welcomed. For example, Part IV of
the Bill reforms the law in relation
to the competence and compellability
of spouses and former spouses in a
way that strikes a fair and correct
balance between the interest of
ensuring that available evidence can
be offered in criminal proceedings
and the requirement that marital
privacy should be maintained.
Another welcome reform is
contained in Section 26 of the Bill,
which allows the evidence of a child
under the age of 14 years to be
Criminal Evidence Bill will permit evidence by live TV link in certain circumstances.
received otherwise than on oath or
affirmation, if the Court is satisfied
that the child is capable of giving an
intelligible account of events which
he has observed.
The two main areas covered by the
Bill concern the admissibility of
business records and the evidence of
young persons in cases of sexual or
violent assault.
Evidence by Young Persons
The Bill's provisions in this latter
category may be summarised as
follows:
(1) If an accused is charged with a
relevant offence (sexual offence,
offence involving violence or a threat
of violence etc.), a witness under the
age of 17 years, not necessarily the
injured party, may give evidence by
live TV link, unless the Court sees
good reason to the contrary; in which
event, the judge, barrister or solicitor
may not wear a wig or gown while
the witness is giving evidence.
(2) The examination, cross-
examination or re-examination of
such witness may be conducted
through an intermediary, if the
Court, on application to it, is
satisfied that the interests of justice
so require, having regard to the age
or mental condition of the witness.
(3) If the injured party is under the
age of 17 years and his/her evidence
is taken on deposition at the
preliminary examination by means of
a live TV link, the video recording
of the deposition may be used in
evidence at the accused's trial.
(4) If the injured party is under the
age of 14 years and has made a
video recorded statement to an
"appropriately qualified" person,
the video recording of this statement
may be considered by a judge of the
District Court at a preliminary
examination and may be used in
evidence in any subsequent trial.
(5) As the technical facilities to allow
for live TV link and video recording
may only be available in some
courthouses, there is a provision
allowing for proceedings to be
transferred to another Circuit or
District Court District.
(6) An injured party under the age of
17 years is not required to identify
the accused at a trial, where evidence
has been given that the accused was
known to the witness before the date
of the alleged offence or that the
accused has been identified by the
witness on a prior occasion.
(7) All of these provisions apply
where the injured party/witness
suffers from a mental handicap.
(8) The requirement that there be
corroboration of the unsworn
evidence of a child is abolished. It
will now be a matter for the
discretion of the trial judge as to
212