Criminal Law, Civil Law and Defence (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2026: Committee Stage
Seanad Éireann — 2026-06-24
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Jim O'Callaghan (FF), Dublin Bay South

I thank Senator Black for moving this amendment and for her contribution. It is the case that a miscellaneous provisions Bill is a very useful legal instrument for the purpose of trying to make varying changes to different laws, and you can get it done on a pretty fast and expedited basis. I do not make any apology for the fact that that is what I am seeking to do. I have had very significant engagement with the Houses of the Oireachtas in respect to this legislation, in particular with the Seanad. I believe that the Bill, quite correctly, has been subject to the scrutiny it deserves, as is the case with all legislation.
Amendment No. 14 from Senator Black is an amendment proposed to section 12, which proposes an amendment to section 27 of the Extradition Act of 1965. Senator Black's amendment proposes to delete section 12(d) of the Bill. Paragraph (d) substitutes section 27(7) of the 1965 Act to provide that if, within 28 days of a person's provisional arrest, no ministerial certificate is produced confirming that an extradition request has been made, the person shall be released from custody or from the terms of his or her bail. The existing provision in the legislation provides for a remand period of 18 days. The effect of Senator Black's amendment would be simply to leave the 18 days in place. I want to change it to 28 days for the following reason, and I think it is a considered and balanced change. The proposal arises from advice my Department received from the Chief State Solicitor's Office that if the Bill's other amendments to the Extradition Act are to operate as intended, the current 18-day maximum remand period should be increased to 28 days. Doing so will ensure that where a person has been remanded on foot of a provisional arrest without warrant, there is sufficient time for the formalisation and processing of extradition requests from Switzerland and Liechtenstein, but also from other countries, such as the United States, which can be very difficult to finalise within the 18-day period for procedural reasons beyond the control of the Chief State Solicitor’s Office and, indeed, the central authority in my Department.
It should be noted that the European Convention on Extradition refers to 18 days after provisional arrest as a minimum remand period. I am unsure as to why the Legislature chose this as the maximum period under the 1965 Act, but I am satisfied it is no longer fit for purpose. The convention allows for a remand period of up to 40 days, and in this context, the increase to 28 days I am proposing is reasonable and proportionate in the interests of a well-functioning extradition system. I note also that there is no legal bar to the making of a bail application by a person who has been provisionally arrested, either at their first court appearance or thereafter. For those reasons I cannot accept the amendment put forward by Senator Black.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2026-06-24/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:55:06+00:00
Sitting date: 2026-06-24