Barrister asked to examine current bail laws
The Minister for Justice has asked a leading barrister to examine the current laws on bail and make recommendations on any changes that are needed.
Jim O’Callaghan was speaking in the Dáil yesterday evening (27 May) as he delivered an apology to the family of hit-and-run victim and law student Shane O’Farrell, who was killed in Co Monaghan in 2011.
The car that struck him was driven by Zigimantas Gridziuska, who, according to the minister, had committed 30 offences while on bail, and was on bail for at least six offences at the time of Shane O’Farrell’s death.
‘Legitimate questions’
“The legitimate questions that the O’Farrell family have asked are: why the persistent breaches of bail conditions by Gridziuska, through the commission of further offences, did not trigger a response under our criminal-justice code; and why were consecutive sentences not imposed in respect of the offences he committed whilst on bail; and why warrants that were issued were not executed,” Minister O’Callaghan told the Dáil.
He added that the broader question that needed to be answered was how the criminal-justice system should respond to a recidivist offender who persistently broke summary laws.
The minister said that he had asked Lorcan Staines SC to report on the current bail laws within four months, and to make recommendations, “taking into account the requirements of constitutional justice and the impossibility of refusing bail to every person accused of summary offences”.
Careless-driving charge
He added that the Government would also be seeking the amendment of section 53(4) of the Road Traffic Act 1961 later this year in order to take into account one of the consequences of the trial of Gridziuska.
After Shane O’Farrell’s death, the Lithuanian man was acquitted, by direction of the trial judge, of dangerous driving. Under the current law, the jury was not allowed to consider the lesser charge of careless driving as the judge had directed an acquittal.
“The option of the lesser offence is available with a jury acquittal of dangerous driving, and it is a serious flaw in our law that the option is not available in the event of an acquittal direction from the judge,” Minister O’Callaghan said.
Scholarship
This would be the second change in the law achieved as a result of a campaign by the O’Farrell family, after section 17 of the Road Traffic Act 2014 established a new indictable offence of leaving the scene of an accident where an injury or death has occurred.
The minister also announced that the Department of Justice would fund an annual scholarship in the name of Shane O’Farrell, to be awarded to a student who distinguishes himself or herself in the Masters in Law degree at University College Dublin.
Shane O’Farrell had a law degree from UCD, and had just completed his Masters in Law at Trinity College Dublin at the time of his death.