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Digital plan to save gardaí court time – minister

The Minister for Justice has said that he plans to bring forward legislation that would cut the amount of time garda members have to spend “waiting around” in court.  

Minister Jim O’Callaghan was speaking at a garda attestation ceremony for trainees today (7 March). 

He said that the Miscellaneous Provisions Bill would provide a basis for the remote hearing of all types of criminal proceedings. 

“As such it has the potential to significantly reduce garda time and resources expended on conveying persons in their custody to the courts, along with garda time spent in the court itself,” the minister said.

He added that the proposed legislation would also contain measures on the digitisation of documents – including bench warrants and charge sheets. Gardaí are currently required to produce these documents in paper form and physically deliver them to the courts. 

Unique identifier 

The minister also told the event that he planned to launch a public consultation “shortly” on the introduction of a unique identifier across the Irish justice system. 

He said that an identifier, “probably based on the PPSN”, would “transform” the system and make it work better for everyone. 

“Someone moving through the criminal-justice system, from the gardaí to the courts to the prisons or probation service, will get a new number when they encounter a different part of the system. 

“This is highly inefficient and also militates against analysis being done that would better inform criminal policy,” the minister stated.