Larceny and obtaining by false pretences laws dating from the 1860s are being updated in a Criminal Justice Bill published by the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, yesterday.
The Criminal Justice (Theft and Fraud Offences) Bill 2000 also reforms money-laundering laws dating from 1994. Gardai have had some difficulties in bringing prosecutions under the 1994 Criminal Justice Act. The new Bill will also harmonise the money-laundering offences with EU legislation.
Issuing the Bill yesterday, Mr O'Donoghue said its main purpose is to enact a modern statutory code to cover all offences of theft and dishonesty. It repeals earlier legislation, including Larceny Acts dating from 1861.
"This Bill represents a fundamental and major reform of the criminal law relating to fraud and dishonesty and demonstrates the seriousness with which this Government views the potentially damaging impact of crime such as fraud," the Minister said.
The Bill creates a new offence of "dishonestly appropriating property". This makes its an offence to interfere adversely with the proprietary rights of the owner without the owner's consent and with the intention of depriving the owner of it.
This offence differs from the current offence of larceny which requires a physical taking away of property with the intention of permanently depriving the owner. The penalty is an unlimited fine or imprisonment for up to 10 years or both. The Bill also creates an offence of handling stolen property consisting of receiving or undertaking to assist in the retention, removal, disposal or realisation of stolen property knowing or being reckless as to whether property is stolen. The penalty will be an unlimited fine or up to 10 years in prison or both.
The Bill also includes new provisions for the investigation of offences of fraud and dishonesty, including provision for the granting of search warrants and for orders requiring persons to produce documents and other material where there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that they constitute evidence of the commission of an offence.
A production order may be granted where a judge is satisfied that the Garda is investigating an offence, that a person has control of the material and that there are reasonable grounds for suspecting that it constitutes evidence in relation to such an offence.
New offences of forgery and counterfeit replace the existing law in these areas. The offence of counterfeiting will extend to counterfeiting of euro notes and coins, even before these they are issued into circulation. The Bill also creates new offences of fraud and corruption relating to the financial interests of the EU.