The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has said that the Criminal Justice Act 2007 and the proposed Criminal Law (Defence of Life and Property) Bill 2007 are symptomatic of a legislative failure to comply with international human rights standards in relation to criminal justice.

Mark Kelly, Director, ICCL said that: “The political urge to pander to populist sentiment is never stronger than in relation to criminal justice issues.  In the scramble for votes, it is far too easy for genuine fears of crime to be whipped up into a kind of moral panic. Legislative measures such as the Criminal Justice Act 2007 clearly fall into this category, presenting wholly unproven measures as a panacea for serious crime” he said.

“By contrast international human rights standards can provide a solid anchor for criminal justice reform,” he added.

Mr. Kelly also highlighted that in adopting the Criminal Justice Act 2007 many politicians had chosen to ignore advice from criminologists, solicitors and senior counsel, including the Law Society of Ireland and the reinvigorated Criminal Bar Association (CRA).

He was speaking today at a conference on criminal justice and human rights at the Centre for Criminal Justice and Human Rights (CCJHR), Faculty of Law, University College Cork.

Mark Kelly also referred to a number of positive examples of applying human rights standards to inform the reform of Garda policy and practice.

“The ICCL has contributed to human rights based reform of the force including producing a new human rights guide outlining how the European Convention on Human Rights relates to the work of Gardaí, offering advice through the Garda Strategic Human Rights Advisory Committee, delivering human rights training and producing an analysis of the Morris Tribunal reports which call for Garda reform,” he said.

His presentation also looked at the positive benefits that could gained from constructive engagement with international treaty bodies including the Council of Europe’s Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT) and the UN’s Human Rights Committee.

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