THE DISTRIBUTION of crimes among different courts should be based on the gravity of the offence, the threat it posed to society as a whole, the potential damage caused and the complexity of the issues, according to High Court judge, Mr Justice George Birmingham.
Launching a book by Shelley Horan on corporate crime last night, he recalled that as a barrister he had prosecuted and defended many such cases, which not only related to large-scale fraud but also included prosecutions under the Health and Safety Code and bribery and corruption cases. However, most of these offences fell outside the jurisdiction of the Central Criminal Court, which had a daily diet of rape and murder.
“There is little enough time spent on its other areas of treason and piracy,” said Mr Justice Birmingham, who sits on the Central Criminal Court.
If one considered criteria like the gravity of the offence, its impact on society as a whole and the complexity of the case, some cases involving commercial cases should be heard in the Central Criminal Court. For example, if a case arose concerning corporate manslaughter, involving a transport disaster killing hundreds of people, or a jerry-built building collapsed killing dozens of people, at present these would not be in the Central Criminal Court.
The growing specialisation of legal work led to a division between civil and criminal work, and the building of the new Parkgate Street centre had contributed to the sundering of the legal profession, which he regretted.