Criminal Justice Act 2017

• Jurisdiction: Ireland
• Citation: IR No. 14/2017
• Year: 2017

Number 14 of 2017
CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACT 2017
CONTENTS
Section
1. Definition
2. Amendment of Criminal Justice Act 1984
3. Amendment of Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994
4. Amendment of Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act 1996
5. Amendment of section 2 of Act of 1997
6. Amendment of section 6 of Act of 1997
7. Amendment of section 6B of Act of 1997
8. Power to hear complainant evidence in bail applications
9. Requirement to give reasons for bail decisions
10. Amendment of Schedule to Act of 1997
11. Amendment of Criminal Justice Act 2007
12. Amendment of Criminal Justice Act 2011
13. Short title and commencement
Acts Referred to
Bail Act 1997 (No. 16)
Broadcasting Act 2009 (No. 18)
Children Act 2001 (No. 24)
Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act 1996 (No. 29)
Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994 (No. 2)
Criminal Justice Act 1951 (No. 2)
Criminal Justice Act 1984 (No. 22)
Criminal Justice Act 2007 (No. 29)
Criminal Justice Act 2011 (No. 22)
Mental Health Act 2001 (No. 25)
Misuse of Drugs Act 1977 (No. 12)
Road Traffic Act 1961 (No. 24)
Number 14 of 2017
CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACT 2017
An Act to amend certain enactments, including the Criminal Justice Act 1984 , the Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994 , the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act 1996 , the Bail Act 1997, the Criminal Justice Act 2007 and the Criminal Justice Act 2011 and to provide for related matters.
[28th June, 2017]
Be it enacted by the Oireachtas as follows:
		Definition
1. In this Act, “Act of 1997” means the Bail Act 1997 .
		Amendment of Criminal Justice Act 1984
2. Section 9 of the Criminal Justice Act 1984 is amended in subsection (1) by the substitution of “Sections 5, 5A, 6A” for “Sections 5, 6A”.
		Amendment of Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994
3. The Criminal Justice (Public Order) Act 1994 is amended by the insertion of the following after section 4:
	“4A. (1) (a) Where a person—
	(i) is in custody in a Garda Síochána station having been arrested under section 24 or for the offence at common law of breach of the peace, and
	(ii) is, but for this section, to be released from custody,
	he or she may, if the member of the Garda Síochána for the time being in charge of the Garda Síochána station is of opinion that the person is intoxicated to such an extent as would give rise to a reasonable apprehension that the person might endanger himself or herself or other persons, be detained in custody for such period, not exceeding 6 hours from the time of his or her arrest, as the member of the Garda Síochána so in charge remains of that opinion.
	(2) Where the member of the Garda Síochána for the time being in charge of the Garda Síochána station is of opinion that the person detained under subsection (1) is under the age of 18 years, the member shall, upon the attendance at the station of a parent or guardian of the person or of a person reasonably named by the person so detained, release the person into the custody of the parent or guardian or the person reasonably named, unless the member is of opinion that the person continues to be intoxicated to such an extent that, if so released, he or she will continue to give rise to a reasonable apprehension that he or she might endanger himself or herself or other persons.
	(3) Nothing in this section shall affect the operation of section 15 of the Criminal Justice Act 1951 (Proceedings on arrest) or section 53 of the Children Act 2001 (Duty of Garda Síochána in relation to certain under-age children).
	(4) In this section ‘intoxicated ’ has the same meaning as it has in section 4.”.
		Amendment of Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act 1996
4. Section 5 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act 1996 is amended in subsection (1) by the substitution of “Sections 5, 5A, 6A” for “Sections 5, 6A”.
		Amendment of section 2 of Act of 1997
5. Section 2 of the Act of 1997 is amended by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (2):
	“(2) In exercising its jurisdiction under subsection (1), a court shall take into account and may, where necessary, receive evidence or submissions concerning—
	(a) the nature and degree of seriousness of the offence with which the accused person is charged and the sentence likely to be imposed on conviction,
	(b) the nature and degree of seriousness of the offence apprehended and the sentence likely to be imposed on conviction,
	(c) the nature and strength of the evidence in support of the charge,
	(d) any conviction of the accused person for an offence committed while he or she was on bail,
	(e) any previous convictions of the accused person including any conviction the subject of an appeal (which has neither been determined nor withdrawn) to a court,
	(f) any other offence in respect of which the accused person is charged and is awaiting trial,
	and, where it has taken into account one or more of the foregoing, it may also take into account—
	(i) the fact that the accused person is addicted to a controlled drug within the meaning of the Misuse of Drugs Act 1977 ,
	(ii) the extent to which the number and frequency of any previous convictions of the accused person for serious offences indicate persistent serious offending by the accused person, and
	(iii) the nature and likelihood of any danger to the life or personal safety of any person or danger to the community that may be presented by the release on bail of a person charged with an offence punishable by imprisonment for a term of 10 years or by a more severe penalty.”.
		Amendment of section 6 of Act of 1997
6. Section 6 of the Act of 1997 is amended—
	(a) in subsection (1)(b) by the substitution of “considers necessary and proportionate” for “considers appropriate”,
	(b) in subsection (1)(b), by the insertion of the following subparagraphs after subparagraph (v):
	“(vi) that the accused person refrains from having contact (direct or indirect) with the person in respect of whom the offence is alleged to have been committed or any member of his or her family unless such contact is approved by the court,
	(vii) that the accused person shall not drive a mechanically propelled vehicle (within the meaning of the Road Traffic Act 1961 ) where the person has been charged with a serious offence relating to the driving of such a vehicle and the court considers it necessary to impose such a condition to prevent the commission of a serious offence connected with the driving of such a vehicle,
	(viii) that the accused person shall be at a specified place between specified times during the period commencing at 9.00 p.m. on each day and ending at 6.00 a.m. on each following day.”,
	(c) in subsection (8), by the substitution of “subsection (6) or (10) ” for “subsection (6),”, and
	(d) by the insertion of the following subsection:
	“(10) Where a member of the Garda Síochána—
	(a) with reasonable cause, suspects that a person who has been admitted to bail—
	(i) is about to contravene any of the conditions of the recognisance,

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