A draft Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2024 was yesterday brought to Government. This legislation is expected to address an issue recently identified by the High Court in which the Court ruled that a child who commits murder, but turns 18 years old, before sentencing, should not be subject to the mandatory life sentence for murder.
Further to the High Court judgment of September 2nd, which held that the mandatory life sentence for murder cannot be imposed on ‘aged out’ children, legislative amendments have now been drafted in response, and now subject to Government approval.
These ammendments address the issue in principle that a person who commits the offence of murder when still a child, but is sentenced after their 18th birthday, cannot be treated unfairly compared to another child who commits the same offence, but is sentenced while still under 18 years of age; as the latter child, in this same situation, might not receive a life sentence.
A child or an ‘aged out’ child who commits murder may still receive a life sentence; however; it will no longer be a mandatory life sentence.
At its meeting of September 10th 2024, the Government agreed to proceed with the drafting of the Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2024, to address this issues, which was recently identified by the High Court.
The Bill also amends section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act 1990, to dis-apply the mandatory minimum sentence for treason, and certain murders (e.g. of a Garda or prison officer). An amendment to dis-apply the minimum custodial period for the offence of capital murder, to the same cohort, are also included in this Bill.
3,600 new Irish citizens will attend at Citizenship Ceremonies in the Convention Centre, Dublin.
3,600 new Irish citizens will be granted Irish citizenship in three ceremonies all taking place today, Monday September 16th, at the Convention Centre in Dublin. The Ceremonies will see applicants from 143 countries around the world, who are residing across 32 counties on the island of Ireland, being conferred as Irish citizens.
This follows 14 such ceremonies held so far this year, with a total of 11,417 people attending and being conferred with Irish Citizenship. The Presiding Officer at the ceremonies is retired Justice Mr Paddy McMahon, who will administer the “Declaration of Fidelity” to the Irish Nation and Loyalty to the Irish State.
The Citizenship Division have introduced significant changes to speed up the applications process for applicants, including the introduction of an online digital application, online payments, and eVetting.
Over the last 2 years the Citizenship Division has gone from processing around 12,000 applications a year, to processing over 20,000 applications in 2023. Already in 2024 nearly 16,000 decisions have been made in the first half of this year.
Last year, the Citizenship Division more than doubled the number of ceremonies available to applicants, with 15 held over the course of the year. This was a significant increase on 6 Citizenship Ceremonies held in 2022.
Including today, September 16th, the total number of Ceremonies held so far this year is 17, surpassing the number of ceremonies hosted in 2023. Further Ceremonies are being planned for later in the year.
New Irish citizens will undertake to faithfully observe the laws of the Irish State and to respect its democratic values. These new Irish citizens are contributing to a diverse and inclusive workforce, bringing a range of skills and talents that enhance the overall capabilities of the labour market and the Irish economy.
First of 18 domestic, sexual & gender based violence refuges will open today.
The €6.5m facility consists of 12 family units with provision for wraparound services.
It is the first newly-built Domestic, Sexual & Gender Based Violence (DSGBV) refuge to be delivered under the Zero-Tolerance strategy.
Security and privacy for service users are core design principles.
The first new, €6.5 million domestic violence refuge will be opened today in Co. Wexford.
The Capital Assistance Fund and Cuan, funded by the taxpayer, will continue to support this new refuge, which consists of 12 family units. Wexford is the first of 18 such priority locations to complete construction on this new domestic violence refuge.
The facility was developed by Wexford Women’s Refuge in co-operation with Wexford County Council. It is located close to Wexford Rape Crisis Centre, which will ensure the provision of wraparound services for the women and children who are forced to use the refuge.
The building contains a total of 12 family units, including a fully accessible disability unit. It replaces the existing four-unit facility in the town, which is no longer considered fit for purpose. Each unit in the new facility contains a bedroom, kitchen/living area, and bathroom, and can accommodate a family of one mother and her children.
The building was designed and built in line with the Department of Housing’s ‘Project Brief Design Guidelines for Domestic Violence Accommodation’. This document incorporates Safe Ireland’s guidance on DSGBV accommodation design as outlined in its ‘Safe Spaces’ project. Security and privacy for service users are core design principles.
The primary purpose of this new facility is to provide refuge and respite accommodation to domestic, sexual and gender based violence victims and their families. In addition, the facility has been designed as a modern space that can facilitate a range of wraparound and ancillary services, including a therapeutic space, family room, and a common room.
The facility will also serve as a hub to facilitate community and outreach initiatives to support vulnerable families in the community. Wexford Women’s Refuge is a long-time recipient of funding via Tusla and the Department of Justice.
Cuan, the Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence Agency, which was established in January of this year, has taken over the administration of all funding for the refuge.
In March of this year (2024) some 43 organisations were deemed successful for additional funding for domestic, sexual and gender-based violence services, following an evaluation process conducted by Tusla, with Tipperary Rape Crisis Centre receiving €32,000.00 of an extra €6.3 million of provided funding.
Thurles, Co. Tipperary continue in a cycle of spending large amounts of funding on projects that tick lots of boxes, but ultimately the town fails to maintain what it has already got and fails to fix longstanding important issues.
After spending, in or around some €10 million Euro on updating half of Liberty Square, ask yourself are traffic conditions any better? Motorists would confirm that conditions have become significantly much worse, with heavy goods vehicles (HGV’s) forced to traverse our medieval streets, with no progress being made with regards our long sought after “Thurles Ring Road”. Ask yourself why have all the business premises either moved or closed within the Liberty Square area of Thurles, and where is the promised increase in ‘footfall’, same now reduced by 60%, according to the few angry, remaining business owners.
Officialdom appears to “fix what isn’t broken”; the latest being a €3.4 million car park revamp near ‘The Source’ building, same only revamped some 8 years ago. Latter is just one example; as they simultaneously ignore what badly needs fixing, e.g. the river Suir in the centre of Thurles Town, same being just one example, which Thurles.Info has already highlighted, on numerous occasions, most recently on August 17th 2024 last, HERE.
But there are other amenities showing obvious decay, same directly highlighting officialdom’s utter neglect of town maintenance.
We have mentioned already the 8 year old re-vamped Town Park carpark, same now to be re-vamped, yet again, to become a Market area and Restaurant, as yet devoid of tenants, which will considerably reduce existing car parking spaces, while competing with existing local small businesses, same already struggling to operate just a few metres away in the Liberty Square town centre.
In recent weeks we have watched mature trees ripped out from this aforementioned Town Park carpark and re-sown close by, their bark extensively damaged by heavy machinery which was used to rip apart the tree heel mesh grills at their base. Two of these mature trees are unlikely to survive the coming winter.
New “Nature Signs” provided along the river walk, close to the junction of Emmet Street and Thomond Road, and only recently erected, have now been smashed by a very small group of “uncouth barbarians”, permitted to roam freely in the area. Of course no local residents nearby heard anything, as a large rock was used to pound the thick Plexiglas Perspex acrylic sheet, protecting its contents from weathering.
No Closed-Circuit Television Installed!
Signs are positioned nearby threatening CCTV (Closed-Circuit Television) being in operation. Yet again, no CCTV has ever existed, covering this area, and proof of same is the amount of damage caused by the afore mentioned small number of “uncouth barbarians”, with no arrests ever being made.
The area in the park known as the “Fitness Zone”, again, has been totally neglected, with the individual sectioned area’s poles either pulled up or broken off. Same poles are now rotten, having been only preserved using one basic coat of fence preservative some 8 years ago, before being then left uncapped due to its semicircle (circular half arc) construction.
Video, shown above, is undeniable proof of this very small section of our town, now depicting that which normally indicates an inner-city slum.
New legislation that strengthens the law around sexual offences and improves protections for victims of sexual offences has commenced, beginning from on 31st August last.
Wide-ranging Act delivers on key reforms in the strategy ‘Supporting a Victim’s Journey’ to improve the criminal justice system for victims of sexual offences.
Character references must now be given on oath or via affidavit in sexual offence trials.
An Garda Síochána and civilian courts will investigate alleged sexual offences in Defence Forces.
Preparations underway for the new National Referral Mechanism (NRM) for victims of human trafficking .
Parts 1, 2, 4 and 5 of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking) Act 2024 have commenced which:
Ensures anonymity for victims in all trials for sexual offences.
Extends the right to separate legal representation to victims of sexual assault if they are being questioned about their previous sexual history.
Ensures character evidence at a sentencing hearing for a person convicted of a sexual offence must be made on oath or via affidavit.
Ensures people subject to military law who commit sexual offences in this jurisdiction will be dealt with by An Garda Síochána and the civilian courts rather than by courts-martial.
Clears the final obstacles to ratification of the Second Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.
This legislation delivers on key recommendations in the Review of Protections for Vulnerable Witnesses in the Investigation and Prosecution of Sexual Offences which underpins the Government’s strategy – ‘Supporting a Victim’s Journey’ – to improve the criminal justice system for victims of sexual violence, predominantly women and children while fulfilling commitments to a ‘Zero Tolerance’ Strategy to tackle domestic, sexual and gender-based violence (DSGBV).
This new legislation protects the privacy of victims in court. It strengthens measures that protect victims from re-traumatisation and re-victimisation, as they engage with the justice system during the investigation and prosecution of sexual offences.
The legislation ensures anonymity for victims in all sexual offences trials. It also provides for the anonymity of an accused person, unless and until he or she is convicted of a sexual offence.
The public will be excluded from the courtroom for sexual offence trials and the definitions of “broadcast” and “publication” is revised, so that publication on social media is covered in order to protect the victim’s identity.
The victim’s right to separate legal representation, if there is an application to question them over their previous sexual experience, is now extended to include trials for sexual assault, which had not previously been covered under the legislation. The barrister who is assigned to represent the victim at the application is allowed to continue to represent the victim at the questioning, if the application is granted.
The new legislation also implements recommendations by the Defence Forces Independent Review Group (IRG). The IRG recommended amendments to the Defence Act 1954 to ensure that persons subject to military law who commit sexual offences in this jurisdiction will be dealt with by An Garda Síochána and the civilian courts – rather than by courts-martial.
Second Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child on the sale of children, child prostitution and child pornography.
A number of significant pieces of legislation had to be passed to ensure that Ireland is in compliance with the obligations of the Second Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child. The enactment of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017 and the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Act 2017 constituted key steps on the pathway to the ratification of the Optional Protocol.
The Office of the Attorney General advised that in order to overcome one of the last obstacles to ratification, section 3 of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017 needs to be inserted into the Schedule to the Sexual Offences (Jurisdiction) Act 1996, to provide for extraterritoriality. Section 3 of the 2017 Act creates an offence of obtaining or providing a child for the purposes of sexual exploitation and its addition to the Schedule of the 1996 Act will allow it to be prosecuted where some or all of the offence is committed outside the State. In addition, the Protocol is being added to the list of international agreements to which the Criminal Justice (Mutual Assistance) Act 2008 applies, so that mutual assistance can be provided to Convention states in accordance with the Protocol. The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking) Act 2024 provides for these amendments thus removing the remaining obstacles to Ireland’s ratification of the Protocol.
Ratification of the Second Optional Protocol will be a matter for the Minister for Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.
The legislation will also clear the path for Ireland’s ratification of the Second Optional Protocol to the UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.
Human Trafficking.
In addition, Part 3 of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking) Act 2024 provides the legislative basis for a new National Referral Mechanism (NRM) for victims of human trafficking. An NRM, (as defined by the European Commission and OSCE), is a framework through which States fulfil their obligations to protect and promote the human rights of trafficking victims, working in partnership with civil society.
Ireland’s new NRM will make it easier for victims of trafficking to come forward, be identified and access advice, accommodation, and support.
Given the importance of this section of the Act, the preparatory work for the commencement of Part 3 is continuing, as a priority, and is expected to be completed by the end of this year.
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