Criminal Procedure Bill 2021: Committee Stage
Seanad Éireann — 2021-04-26
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Michael McDowell (IND), National University of Ireland

The Special Criminal Court consists of three people. A member of that court - it may not be a member of the trial court, but that depends on the new rules of the Special Criminal Court - will have ruled a statement admissible. That judge is then going to sit with two other colleagues who are going to consider the same evidence, which is a starting position of one down. It is like an away goal in a soccer match. The court is one down before the trial starts if one judge has been the judge ruling in the preliminary hearing, especially in the case of a non-jury court.
There is substance in what I am saying. I know it applies at the moment but at least the whole court decides it at the moment. People are now going to be in a position where they know that Mr. Justice Bloggs in the middle, or Ms Justice Bloggs in the middle, already rejected this evidence as a complete fabrication, and the two people on either side are being asked to effectively reverse that decision. It is a strange thing.

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Record URI: https://data.oireachtas.ie/akn/ie/debateRecord/seanad/2021-04-26/debate/main
Retrieved: 2026-08-14T04:49:12+00:00
Sitting date: 2021-04-26