NEW legislation will allow gardai to provide written evidence of the arrest of suspects, rather than giving it personally in court, thereby saving Garda time.
This is one of the measures which will be in a new Criminal Justice (Miscellaneous Pro visions) Bill, which the Minister for Justice has announced. Mrs Owen was speaking at the graduation ceremony of 97 new gardai in Templemore.
The proposed Bill will also allow the court remand an accused person in custody near the court in order to reduce the time spent escorting the prisoner to and from court. It will extend from eight to 15 the maximum number of days a person can be remanded in custody between court appearances, to reduce the number of remand hearings.
She said the Bill would also contain a provision for a district court judge to issue search warrants in respect of serious offences like murder, serious bodily harm, kidnapping, rape and other serious sexual offences. This would enable gardai to search for and seize evidence, such as knives, in cases involving murder or serious injury, she said.
Other provisions would include requiring the consent of the DPP before other offences could be taken into consideration when a person is being sentenced. At the moment a person convicted of one offence can ask that others be taken into account. "I believe that criminals have been reaping undue advantage under that provision of the law," she said.
She also referred to the recently published Criminal Law Bill, which provides gardai with the power to arrest without warrant for all serious offences.
Mrs Owen rejected the suggestion that the number of murders was growing and the rate of detection decreasing. There were 13 violent deaths so far this year, she said, and five people had been arrested in connection with them. One man had killed himself following the killing of a woman.
Of the 41 violent deaths in 1995, 31 cases had been detected, she said. This compared with 25, such crimes the previous year, of which 20, she said, had been detected, a similar proportion to earlier years.
Turning to the assets of drug traffickers, she said a report was now with her on the respective powers of the gardai and the Revenue Commissioners. The Revenue Commissioners could tax income but not seize assets. The gardai could ask the court, where they had a reasonable suspicion about the source of the money, for information from the Revenue Commissioners, but they still needed to prove a connection, between the money and a crime. "There are gaps, which we are looking at," she said.
Stressing the importance of the trust placed in the Garda by the public, she said this demanded high standards of service, as people were now more willing to scrutinise those giving public service.
Three special awards were made to this group of graduates. The Commissioner's Medal, which goes to the student with the highest total marks in academic subjects, went to Garda Mark O'Neill from Dublin, who will be stationed at Shankill, Co Dublin.
The Gary Sheehan Memorial Medal for the best all round student went to Garda Patrick O'Connell, from Kerry, who will be stationed at Fitzgibbon Street, Dublin. The Templemore Urban District Council Medal, for outstanding achievement and appreciation in the area of Social Science Studies, went to Garda Garry Loughrey from Dublin, who will be stationed at Tallaght, Dublin.
Of the 29 female and 68 male new gardai, 78 will be stationed in Dublin. The stations with the biggest intake are Store Street, with ten; Fitzgibbon Street (7), Pearse Street (6) and Kevin Street (6).