Recording of Garda interviews welcomed

Garda representative groups, civil liberties campaigners and Opposition politicians have welcomed the announcement that gardai will be obliged to videotape interviews with persons suspected of serious crimes.

Under a scheme to be implemented over the next 18 months, 200 Garda stations are to be equipped with audio/video recording facilities at a cost of £10 million.

Interviews will be recorded only in cases where the crime involved carries a sentence of five years or more. The Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, said yesterday he hoped the measure would virtually eliminate "trials within trials" about whether defendants' statements were made voluntarily or obtained under duress. He believes the initiative would result in shorter and less costly trials.

People detained in Garda custody under the provisions of section 4 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1984; section 30 of the Offences Against the State Act 1939, and section 2 of the Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Act 1996 will have their interviews recorded. The only circumstances in which gardai will be permitted not to record interviews with suspects arrested under these Acts is when a garda of Chief Superintendent rank or higher feels not recording the interview will "help secure confidential information in situations where lives are at great risk".

Gardai will still keep contemporaneous notes of interviews and it is anticipated the video and audio recordings would come into play only if the accuracy of the Garda note of the relevant interview is challenged in court.

The initiative was cautiously welcomed by the main Opposition parties. Mr Jim Higgins, Fine Gael's spokesman on Justice, said the measure should eliminate court conflicts over "whether statements from suspects were given voluntarily or forcibly extracted".

Mr Brendan Howlin, the Labour Party spokesman on Justice, said the scheme would "strengthen the operation of our justice system and enhance the protection offered both to gardai and to individuals questioned by gardai". He called on the Minister to speed up the implementation of the scheme.

The Association of Garda Superintendents, the Garda Representative Association and the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors all welcomed the Minister's announcement. They said the scheme provided protection for gardai wrongfully accused of assaulting suspects in custody.

The director of the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, Mr Donncha O'Connell, said it was "gratifying" that the Minister had decided to introduce the scheme. He said it was "regrettable that such a scheme was not in place for recent cases in which the interrogation techniques employed by the Garda gave rise to serious disquiet".

Recording facilities will be installed in Garda district headquarters around the State and in larger Garda stations. Mr O'Donoghue expects the annual running cost to be about £1 million.

All existing interview suites in Garda stations will have to be refurbished and sound-proofed to ensure a recording of sufficient quality.

The electronic recording scheme is being introduced on foot of the recommendations of a steering committee chaired by the President of the Circuit Court, Mr Justice Esmond Smyth.