SOME of the most severe laws ever drawn up to combat crime in the State have been proposed by a Government appointed group reviewing the operation of the Garda. The work of the group, which was to have been completed by last December, has been delayed by serious disagreements over the new measures.
The most blistering arguments have been over proposals to introduce laws by which a suspect who failed to cooperate with the Garda could be deemed guilty of the offence being investigated.
At least one member of the review group strongly objected to the measures and at one stage is believed to have considered adding a minority report disagreeing with them before the final submitting of the document to Government.
The group's report - which is bound to be controversial - is not now expected to be formally submitted before the general election on June 6th.
Under the report's proposals a law would be enacted whereby a suspect who refused to stand in an identity parade, or allow an intimate sample (such as blood) to be taken, could in theory be sentenced to whatever penalty was appropriate for the charge being investigated. Thus a murder suspect could in theory face life in jail for failing to cooperate.
The review group, set up by the Government after the killing of the journalist Veronica Guerin last June, was instructed to make recommendations which would enhance the effectiveness of the Garda and review the force's efficiency and structures. It is understood the group has left much of the latter task to one side, suggesting a later review of the force.
However, some proposals concerning the Garda are included in the report. Among them is a suggestion aimed at tackling "double jobbing" by gardai, which would require every member of the force who has another job to give details of it to the Garda Commissioner. The Garda Commissioner would also have new freedom to set the opening and closing hours of Garda stations, and rostering of gardai would be changed to ensure officers were available at the times they were most needed.