merrion street

Over the past four-and-a-half months the Minister for Justice and Equality, Alan Shatter, TD, has prioritised the enactment of three key pieces of justice legislation as well as the development and publication of a number of other important Bills. Today, three Bills prioritised for enactment prior to the summer vacation were completed in the Seanad and concluded the legislative process in the Houses of the Oireachtas.

Speaking today Minister Shatter said, "I would like to thank my colleagues in the Seanad for sitting late in July to facilitate the completion of three crucial pieces of legislation that introduce substantial reformn across a number of important areas. Today, that legislation finishes in the Seanad and reaches conclusion in the Houses of the Oireachtas.

"The Criminal Justice Bill 2011 provides for new procedures to facilitate Garda access to essential information, documentation and electronically held information to assist in current and future investigations of white collar crime. The Bill also renders it a criminal offence to fail to furnish to the Gardaí information which could prevent the commission of white collar crime or to assist the Gardaí in an investigation into white collar crime. It also introduces important new measures to protect whistleblowers. The Bill will provide vital assistance to the Gardaí in the completion of investigations which are current as well as providing assistance to them in investigations undertaken in the future.

"The Criminal Justice (Community Service) (Amendment) (No.2) Bill 2011 imposes an obligation on the courts when considering imposing a sentence of 12 months or less on a convicted offender to first consider requiring the offender to undertake community service. This measure is intended to bring about a greater use of Community Service Orders to the benefit of local communities and to save taxpayers money in the context of the cost incurred when convicted offenders serve short terms of imprisonment. It is also intended to partially address the current problem of prison overcrowding and the granting of unconditional temporary release to prisoners prior to their becoming eligible for release on remission.

"The Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provision) Bill 2011 implements important reforms across a diverse range of legal areas addressed in over 40 current Acts of the Oireachtas. The reforms apply to the following areas: bankruptcy law; domestic violence; enforcement of District Court Maintenance Orders; the provision of legal aid to victims of human trafficking; provision for civil partners to receive equal treatment to married couples with regard to citizenship matters and express statutory provision for citizenship ceremonies; reform of the legal provisions applicable to the appointment of Taxing Masters to the High Court; new arrangements for the protection of documentation furnished to and held by tribunals of inquiry; provision to bring the Family Mediation Service under the aegis of the Legal Aid Board and provision to facilitate the speedy electronic publication of Acts of the Oireachtas on the web immediately upon completion of the legislative process.

"These three Bills implement substantial badly needed reforms and make a real difference in modernising many areas of our law in that they impact on over forty Acts presently in force. I would like to thank members of the Dáil and the Seanad, both in Government and Opposition, who contributed so constructively to this legislation as it passed through both Houses of the Oireachtas."