A judge has described as “unsatisfactory” the failure of An Garda Síochána to put in place a proper protocol for undercover drug operations.
In a judgment on an appeal in the case of a man convicted of selling bags of cannabis to undercover gardaí, Mr Justice Alan Mahon said Ireland should look to the British system to see how such operations are conducted there.
“In Ireland, the existence of a formal system for the authorisation and supervision of this type of undercover operation does not appear to exist. Such operations appear to be undertaken with a degree of informality which might reasonably be described as unsatisfactory,” he said.
Justice Mahon dismissed the claim that the Garda operation constituted a breach of the accused person’s rights under article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
However, he added that there needs to be a “greater degree of formality and record-keeping than currently appears to be the case.”
The comments were made in a ruling on a case taken by Robert Mills (25), of Lissadell Green, Drimnagh, Dublin 12.
