Legislation to allow gangland criminals to be tried before the Special Criminal Court has been renewed for another year.
Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern told the Joint Committee on Justice this morning that organised crime continues to present a significant problem in the State.
He said 69 people were arrested under the gangland legislation. However, the Director of Public Prosecutions did not direct that any of the subsequent cases should be tried at the Special Criminal Court.
Section 8 of the Criminal Justice (Amendment) Act 2009 came into force last July. It provided for the trial of organised crime offences in the Special Criminal Court as directed by the director of Public Prosecutions. It also created a new offence of directing or controlling a criminal organisation.
The legislation was introduced in the wake of public concern about the murder of Limerick man Roy Collins and the intimidation of his family. Its aim was to prevent the failure of prosecutions due to intimidation of jurors.
Mr Ahern told the committee that Garda Commissioner Fachtna Murphy was of the clear view that the provision was likely to be required for some time to come.
"It is absolutely essential to ensure that the gardaí have at their disposal the best possible range of powers to face up to organised criminal gangs," he said.
The intimidation of jurors was insidious and difficult to identify, the Minister said. He said gardaí told him on a regular basis that at high profile trials individuals belonging to gangs go into court and "stare out" jurors to put them under pressure.
"The thugs involved in organised crime are desperate people who will stop at nothing to avoid being brought to account for their crimes," he said. "Violence and intimidation are a way of life for these people and we have a duty to make sure that the criminal justice system can hold sway over them."
