Constitutional change and separate bail Bill proposed

THE Government intends to pursue a strategy on bail similar to that it employed on divorce. It is understood that the three Coalition lead hers and the Minister for Justice, Mrs Owen, are opting for a combination of constitutional and legislative changes to the existing bail provisions.

A similar course was adopted on the divorce issue last year, "when provision for divorce was written into the Constitution and the terms were published in a separate Bill.

Two methods of making the bail laws more stringent a prime ingredient of the Government's anti crime package were presented by Mrs Owen to a recent meeting.of Coalition leaders. The first was to specify the precise grounds on which bail could be refused into the Constitution.

The second, which seems to have found favour with the leaders, was to place an "enabling provision" into the Constitution, backed up with a separate Bill, to be published in advance of the referendum, indicating the terms on which bail could be refused.

The enabling amendment, according to informed sources, would indicate that the detention of a person before the courts pending a final decision was considered necessary for the preservation of the common good or property in certain circumstances.

The referendum on bail, already promised for November, will require an amendment to the fundamental rights provisions of the Constitution, in particular Article 40(1) stating that "all citizens shall, as human persons, be held equal before the law".

The Cabinet will put the finishing touches to its package of proposals to combat organised crime today, in advance of tomorrow's recall of the Dail to pass five anti crime Bills. Last night, the Fine Gael chairman of the Dail Committee on Legislation and Security, Mr Charles Flanagan, appealed to the Minister for Finance, Mr Quinn, to give crime and law and order priority over proposed tax cuts. "The attractive tax carrot must not be dangled in front of the Irish electorate at the expense of law and order," he said.

All stages of the Taxes (Disclosure of Certain Information) Bill, due to be published after today's Government meeting, will be debated tomorrow. The main focus of this Bill is to encourage a free exchange of information between the Revenue Commissioners, Garda Siochana and the Department of Social Welfare about assets from suspected crime.

This Bill will also apply stringent reporting requirements on. members of professional bodies, such as estate agents and accountants, obliging them to report suspicious transactions involving large sums of money. It is intended that this provision will be implemented by ministerial order at a later date, to allow for consultations about its contents with the professional bodies.

The Government has now decided that a separate Bill will be required to establish the Criminal Assets Bureau on a statutory basis. The bureau, headed by a Chief Superintendent of the Garda, will thus be an independent agency comprising representatives of the Garda, Revenue Commissioners and Department of Social Welfare.

The State solicitor in Cork, Mr Barry Galvin, who is a member of the review body on the Garda Siochana, is tipped for appointment as legal adviser to the Criminal Assets Bureau.

The Bill setting up the bureau, which has yet to be published, will only be taken at Second Stage in the Dail tomorrow. It is not the Government's intention to pass it immediately into law. It intends nonetheless to set up the bureau fairly quickly, and bring forward any operational amendments at the Committee Stage in the autumn.

Fianna Fail's Organised Crime (Restraint and Disposal of Illicit Assets) Bill, which is being heavily amended by the Government, is expected to pass all stages tomorrow.

All stages of the new Courts. Bill, 1996, providing for an increase from 24 to 27 ordinary judges in the Circuit Court, will also be taken tomorrow.

John McManus adds. The proposed extension of the requirement to report suspicious' financial transactions has received a mixed response from bodies representing the professions likely to be affected.

The Irish Auctioneers and Valuers Institute (IAVI), which represents estate agents, has accused the Government of "once again trying to get the professions to doe their work for them".

Mr Alan Cooke the chief executive of the IAVI, said estate agents and their families risked becoming targets for criminals if they informed on them to the authorities. They also would be left open to possible legal action if they reported a transaction as being suspicious which turned out as bone fide.

The Institute of Chartered Accountants has said that its members accepted the need for them to play their part in combating organised crime.

Mr Ken Murphy, the chief executive of the Law Society, said "solicitors will fully support any reasonable measures to curb the menace of drug related crime".