McDowell's Criminal Justice Bill (2006 c.) — Socialist Workers' Party

Date:	2006 c.
Organisation:	Socialist Workers' Party
Type:	Leaflet
View:	View Document
Discuss:	Comments on this document
Subjects:	Suggested subject

Please note: The Irish Left Archive is provided as a non-commercial historical resource, open to all, and has reproduced this document as an accessible digital reference. Copyright remains with its original authors. If used on other sites, we would appreciate a link back and reference to The Irish Left Archive, in addition to the original creators. For re-publication, commercial, or other uses, please contact the original owners. If documents provided to The Irish Left Archive have been created for or added to other online archives, please inform us so sources can be credited.

Commentary From The Cedar Lounge Revolution

29th September 2025

Many thanks to the person who forwarded this to the Archive.

An interesting document from the Socialist Workers Party from around 2006. It engages with the Criminal Justice Bill that then Minister for Justice sought to introduce. It argues:

Michael McDowell plans to introduce sweeping new powers for the Gardá. He has introduced a new Criminal Justice Bill that he wants to make law in the new year. This law if passed , will extend even further the powers of the state and the Gardai.

This law will increase detention periods without charge from 12 to 24 hours. This does not include time spent seeping while in custody so it actually means two full days.

The law will also allow a chief superintendent to sign a search warrant – at the moment it has to be signed by a judge for a specific offence. The new law allows a single warrant be used for a number of offences and for a detained person to continue to be held for offences other than that on the warrant

The law introduces provision for ‘fixed penalties’ for ‘lesser public order offences’. This gives new powers to the Gardai that include the power of arrest and summary conviction of a fine of £1,500 and 6 months imprisonment

It also argues that:

McDowell ignores the real antisocial behaviour going on in Ireland – the wholesale vandalism of public services by the government. We have a chronic situation with our health service, a refusal by the government to take the housing crisis, many of our children are being taught in dilapidated schools and there is zero investment in youth clubs or facilities for young people. Instead of harassing and criminalising young people, there are plenty of real criminals in Ireland that McDowell should be going after, here are a few to start him off.

And it goes on to list the Banks, the US Military, Corrupt politicians and the robbery of elderly people on medical cards.

It also places this Bill in the context of a ‘global attack on civil liberties’. It notes Abu Ghraib in Iraq and how ‘US and British courts now accept evidence extracted from defendants by torture’. It notes in Britain how the government wanted ‘new powers of indefinite house arrest based on secret information from the ‘intelligence community’’. It also notes the use of Shannon by the US government and agencies.