A RETIRED JUDGE has high-lighted what he regards as a glaring anomaly in the proposed new bail legislation.
Mr Patrick Keenan Johnson, formerly of the District Court in Waterford and Kilkenny and of the Special Criminal Court, said that, under the proposed constitutional amendment, convicted criminals would still be able to walk free from court if they opted to appeal their sentences.
District Court judges, he said, would still have no choice but to grant bail terms for appeal even if the gardai believed that the convicted criminals were likely to commit more crime while awaiting appeal. He claims that the proposed new legislation does not address that situation.
Where a convicted person opted to appeal, a District Court judge did not have the power to remand the person in custody, but had to fix recognisances. "That situation does not appear to have been addressed under the terms of the forthcoming referendum, and I believe it requires immediate attention", he said.
Pointing out that about 50 per cent of all crime was dealt with in the District Court, the former judge said that no statistics had ever been produced on the extent of crime committed by convicted criminals on bail from the District Court while awaiting appeal.