Press release – for immediate release
Monday, 19 July 2010
Ireland’s leading rights watchdog, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has welcomed the creation of a new Advisory Committee on Garda Questioning and indicated that it will closely study the content of the draft Home Defence Bill.
ICCL Director Mr Mark Kelly said:
“Back in 2006, when Mr Justice Frederick Morris first recommended the creation of such a Committee, the ICCL wrote to the President of the Irish Human Rights Commission, the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Garda Commissioner and others, all of whom indicated that they were prepared to be represented on such an advisory body. Whilst the ICCL welcomes the creation of the Committee, it is regrettable that it has taken four years to put it in place, and that it has so few independent members.”
“The Irish Council for Civil Liberties, which is already represented on the Garda Commissioner’s Strategic Human Rights Committee, looks forward to working closely with this new advisory body as its work develops”, Mr Kelly added.
Noting that the Minister has also published a draft version of a “home defence bill”, to be considered when the Dail returns from its extended summer holiday, Mr Kelly indicated that the rights watchdog “will closely study these proposals in order to establish whether they are human rights compliant.”
ENDS
Note to Editors:
The ICCL does not intend to comment further on either of these developments at this time.