GSOC given power to investigate Garda Commissioner

Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald has secured the backing of Cabinet to strengthen the powers of the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission (GSOC).

Ministers agreed at their weekly meeting that the office of the Garda Commissioner should come under the remit of GSOC and the proposals will be outlined in heads of a bill to be drafted by the Department of Justice.

An independent process for reviewing further allegations of Garda misconduct, some of which were made directly to the Taoiseach and TDs, was also agreed by Ministers.

The Guerin Report recommended such a process, and the proposal is for both a senior and junior counsel to deal with some 200 cases.

The arrangement will only be temporary, sources said.

Ms Fitzgerald, this afternoon, also published the draft heads of the Garda Síochána (Amendment) Bill 2014, which she said reforms and strengthens the powers of GSOC.

The proposals include:

- extending the time limit for making a complaint to GSOC from six to 12 months;

- allowing GSOC intercept communications and electronic surveillance when investigating gardaí;

- implements the Cooke Report recommendation that investigations may be undertaken where the identity of specific Garda is not initially known or where the person involved is not a member of the force;

- allows the Minister for Justice to refer criminal matters or allegations of misconduct regarding the Garda Commissioner to GSOC;

- allow GSOC carry out investigations on its own initiative; providing for a statutory obligation for sharing of information between the force and GSOC.

Another proposal is to pave the way for the Garda Inspectorate to initiate its own investigations.