Pringle renews call for abolition of Special Criminal Court

By Thomas Pringle
Updated: 25th September 2024

Independent TD for Donegal, Thomas Pringle, has renewed his call for the abolition of the Special Criminal Court, as he called on the Minister for a new independent review of the court that allows the review group the data it needs.

Addressing the Dáil on Tuesday, Deputy Pringle said: “I have consistently condemned the continued operation of the Special Criminal Court. It completely undermines our justice system and suggests that our ordinary courts are inadequate.

“There is no justification, I believe, for the existence of the Special Criminal Court, a court which violates people’s right to a fair trial,” he said.

The deputy was speaking on the Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill 2024.

Deputy Pringle welcomed “the fact that the government took on board my recommendation to ensure that this bill was a stand-alone bill and addressed one important issue, rather than a bill that lumps a lot of mostly unrelated issues into one piece of legislation, which the government has been inclined to do lately with justice bills.”

He said he was surprised that the need to amend the Criminal Justice Act 1990 to ensure mandatory life sentences for murder cannot be imposed on children who have turned 18 years old before sentencing was not foreseen, and that the legislation followed a recent High Court judgement.

The deputy said: “It isn’t fair that two people of the same age when committing a crime would be treated differently if one aged out before their sentencing. Sentencing decisions should be based on the age of the person when they committed the crime and not the age they have become by the time they get to court, and this legislation rectifies that.”

Deputy Pringle said: “The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission and the Irish Council for Civil Liberties have, on many occasions, called for the abolition of the Special Criminal Court due to the significant human rights and equality concerns associated with it and the Offences Against the State Acts.

“I would once again like to point out that the Independent Review Group’s report on the Offences Against the State Acts, published by the Minister for Justice last June, was unanimous in recommending repeal of the Offences Against the State Acts, and the minister still has refused to act in relation to this,” he said, pointing out that three months ago the government again passed legislation to allow for its continuation.

Deputy Pringle said: “Today’s legislation just proves that the government can bring forward legislation very quickly when it wants to – the High Court decision that this legislation is based on was made just three weeks ago. Yet it sits on its hands with other important legislation and uses every excuse under the sun to avoid progressing it.

“The Minister should, at the very least, allow for another independent review of the Special Criminal Court and the Offences Against the State Acts. I have stated this previously but it is clear that the Independent Review Group faced a significant data deficit when conducting their research last year and there was a lack of ‘adequate empirical evidence or sufficiently extensive comparative analysis’.

“This is completely unacceptable and calls into question the findings of the Independent Review Group, as it is clear that they were not given the necessary and relevant information required to make the appropriate recommendations.

“I would like to finish by again voicing my support for this legislation but also calling for another independent review that allows the review group the necessary data, and by again calling for the abolition of the Special Criminal Court,” he said.