The Gazette 1984

GAZ E T TE

A PR II 10X4

BOOK REVIEW

"The Irish Criminal Process" by Edward F. Ryan and

Philip P. Magee. Published by Mercier Press, 595p. 1983.

Price IR£40.00.

Criminal Law and Procedure in Ireland has undergone

significant changes over the past twenty years. The law

itself has become, mostly as a result of judicial decisions,

much more complex and technical. There is a continuing

tension between the desire to detect and convict wrong-

doers on the one hand, and the safe-guarding of the

personal rights of the citizen on the other. To some extent,

the safe-guards are greater than those in England, and this

is due in the most part to the existence of a written

Constitution here. Solicitors have a much greater access

to persons in custody in Ga r da Stations. Such persons

cannot be held for questioning (except under certain

"Eme r g e n c y" Legislation) and must be brought before a

Court or other authority as soon as practicable. Legal Aid

has been recognised as a constitutional right, and a duty

has been placed on our Judges and Justices to inform an

accused person of this right. On the other hand, the last

eight years have witnessed to some extent at least a

delimitation of these essential safe-guards. It has been

held, for instance, that there is no obligation on members

of the Ga r d ai to inform suspected persons of their right to

have a solicitor attend at the Ga r da Station. The right to

legal aid has been limited to accused persons, and

therefore not available to suspects being held in Ga r da

Stations. The Prosecution has been granted the right to

appeal from acquittals of the Central Criminal Cou r t.

100 years of precedents have been disregarded in extra-

dition cases, and the law in relation to the admissabilitv of

statements and other evidence has been changed by

successive Supreme Court decisions.

A new book on our Criminal Process is therefore long

overdue, and would indeed be of great assistance both to

students and practitioners alike if it could bring some

order to the chaos that is at present our Criminal Law.

The book succeeds to a large extent in achieving this

somewhat impossible aim. It consists of almost five

hundred pages of text, which is well set out, and easily

read. It also contains approximately one hundred pages

of appendices, together with the usual tables of cases and

statutes. The authors have obviously read very

extensively and quote not only from Irish and English

authorities, but also from decisions handed down in other

jurisdictions.

The appendices are extremely valuable. They contain

several tables which would be of great assistance to

practitioners. The table of indictable offences sets out the

penalty for each offence, and indicates whether, and then

in what circumstances, this offence may be triable

summarily. When practising in the District Court one can

often be unsure as to whether one's client can be dealt

with by the District Court, and this table will therefore be

very welcome. Similarly, in the higher Courts, there can

often be doubt as to the ma x imum sentence for an

offence, particularly in cases where the accused is

convicted of a lesser offence on the indictment. No longer

will be it necessary for devils to be sent scarpering off to

the Law Library to discover the exact sentence applicable!

A second table sets out the Statutory Powers of Arrest

without a warrant. Many criminal cases, especially those

concerning alleged assaults on Ga r d a i. turn on whether

the Ga r da was acting lawfully when lie made an arrest.

This table will, therefore, be of great assistance, but it

might be just as well to double cheek before relying on it.

In a recent ease. Counsel specifically relied on this table,

and argued that there was no power of arrest for

dangerous driving, unless, of course, it caused serious

injury. Unfortunately, the 1967 Road Traffic Act hail

amended the 1961 Act. and the table did not advert to this

fact. Additional lists of Statutory Powers of both Lntry

and Search are included in the text of the book, and again,

these should prove very useful.

Many different aspects of the Criminal Process are

covered in the book. There is a chapter dealing with the

distinction between serious and minor offences, and this

chapter does not. quite correctly in my opinion, lay too

much stress on the distinction between felonies and

misdemeanours. Further chapters deal with the Courts

and the various limitations on jurisdiction. Lxtradition is

only mentioned in passing, and this explains what appears

to me to be a misreading of

MciHinchcy's

ease. Another

chapter deals with the preparation of the Prosecution

ease. I felt that the section on fingerprints was somewhat

vague and I think it is important to point out that there

are in fact no regulations gov erning the taking of finger-

prints of suspected, as opposed to accused, persons. The

fingerprints of a suspect may be taken unless he objects,

and his prints can be used in ev idence against him. even

though he is not informed by the Gardai that there is no

obligation on him to give his prints. The section on the

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