Insufficient time and analysis has been given to two bills before the Oireachtas to bring them in line with Ireland’s human rights obligations.
11 July 2023
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties has said that new policing Bills do not provide for adequate oversight of An Garda Síochána.
Two pieces of policing legislation will be considered back to back on Wednesday evening (12 July) by the Dáil Justice Committee: the Garda (Recording Devices) Bill and the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill. The first provides for sweeping new monitoring and tracking abilities for Gardaí without sufficient safeguards and the second overhauls the Garda oversight bodies – supposedly to strengthen them but in some parts weakening them.
Olga Cronin, ICCL’s digital surveillance policy officer, says:
“The Recording Devices Bill is providing for sweeping new means for gardai to monitor and track us in public spaces. Gardaí can now track your car without needing permission from a judge; film and record us on public streets using body-worn cameras; and use drones and any new recording device that may be developed in the future without consideration by the Oireachtas. This Bill must be amended to safeguard our fundamental rights.”
The Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill overhauls garda oversight, including by changing the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC) into a changed and in part newly constrained Police Ombudsman. It creates an Independent Examiner for Security Legislation which will provide independent oversight over ‘national security’ policing for the first time but with far too many exceptions.
Doireann Ansbro, ICCL’s Head of Legal and Policy says:
“This Bill does not provide for a properly independent Police Ombudsman and in fact narrows its remit- in a new departure the Ombudsman will have to notify the Garda Commissioner if they want to search a Garda Station.
The new Independent Examiner may prove to be toothless. Gardaí can refuse to share information about national security operations with the Independent Examiner if it will risk ‘international intelligence sources’ – this could be used to avoid oversight, meaning we might never know whether our security forces are violating rights in our name.”
ICCL has called on members of the Oireachtas to give sufficient time to this legislation to get it right. It is concerned that insufficient analysis and debate has been given to both bills to bring them in line with recommendations from the Commission on the Future of Policing and human rights standards.
Ends
Available for comment:
- Doireann Ansbro, Head of Legal and Policy, ICCL
- Olga Cronin, Surveillance and Human Rights Senior Policy Officer
For media queries: taragrace.connolly@iccl.ie / 087 415 7162