Sir, – On the issue of the Special Criminal Court, Gerry Adams and Sinn Féin are not lone voices. The Irish Council for Civil Liberties, Amnesty International and the United Nations Commission on Human Rights have all expressed their opposition to the continuation of this court, especially when used against civilians. Indeed, there was a time when Fine Gael and Labour also opposed such draconian measures. In 1972, when the Fianna Fáil government introduced the Offences Against the State (Amendment) Bill, Fine Gael denounced its provisions as “repugnant to the basic principles of justice and liberty”. – Yours, etc,
TOM COOPER,
Templeogue, Dublin 6W.
Sir, – No jury does not equal no justice. In Ireland, if you follow the justice system all the way up, you end up in the Supreme Court. No jury. In Britain you end up with the law lords. No jury. You can of course appeal to the European Court of Justice. No jury. In the US, you end up in the US supreme court. No jury. Even if you go to the International Court of Justice in the Hague, there is no jury. – Yours, etc,
BRENDAN CASSERLY,
Bishopstown, Cork.
Sir, – I hold no brief for Sinn Féin. Given the “judicial” procedures adopted by an organisation with which that party is completely interwoven, its leader is a most unlikely defender of trial by jury. The jury system is an ancient part of a legal system we inherited from a previous administration. It has changed and mutated as circumstances have changed. There is no longer a property requirement to serve, women are no longer excluded.
The jury, it seems to me, is where we, the citizen, in all our variety and vulgarity and sometimes downright pigheadedness, come into the judicial process to accept or reject, strengthen or amend the assumptions and powers of a mighty state.
To circumscribe that in any way is very, very serious.
Nobody doubts that there have been circumstances when trial by jury has been impossible – though in fact it has operated under far more turbulent circumstances than at present.
Trial by jury has been politicised. An issue of fundamental importance is being ridden roughshod in an atmosphere of pre-election hysteria.
The rest of us – citizens, potential jurors, potential defendants – must stand by as an ancient and tested mechanism by which we are made fundamental to the operation of the rule of law – and by which we know that the rule of law still holds – is glibly discounted.
There needs to be a debate about Special Criminal Courts – but now is not the time for it. – Yours, etc,
EOIN DILLON,
Dublin 8.