Owen says Bill will update law on felonies, misdemeanours

THE legal distinction between felonies and misdemeanours is to be abolished. The Minister for Justice, Mrs Owen, said the distinction had been eroded over many years and no longer had any relevance.

Under existing law, misdemeanours were regarded as less serious than felonies, but offences such as fraudulent conversion, obtaining property by false pretences and some sexual offences were classified as misdemeanours. This gave rise to unnecessary complications and anomalies in the law.

Under the Criminal Justice Bill, the Minister said the law would be restated in modern form. A considerable number of old enactments could be repealed or simplified. Among the changes proposed was the abolition of whipping, which was available to the courts as a punishment, though never used in practice. It had been found to be contrary to the European Convention on Human Rights.

The Bill updated the law on arrest, having regard to the abolition of the distinction between felonies and misdemeanours.

The Fianna Fail spokesman on justice, Mr John O'Donoghue, said the Bill was "a crocheted collection of curios behind which the Minister seeks to hide from realm issues". Criminal law and procedure were crying out for reform. The law needed to be strengthened to deter criminals and assist the Garda.

The law on arrest was a messy and the Bill compounded it. By defining an arrestable offence as punishable by up to five years imprisonment and committed by "a person of full capacity", the Minister was imposing an extraordinary burden on the Garda.

Mr Phil Hogan (FG, CarlowKilkenny) said the reorganisation of the Garda and courts was an important step in improving the quality of the justice system.

Mr Brendan Kenneally (FF, Waterford) said the changes in the Bill might be desirable but they did not tackle the atmosphere of despair about crime that pervaded the country. The Minister should be taking effective action, including the introduction of DNA testing which had proved a boost to the fight against crime abroad.

Debate on the Bill will be resumed next week.