ALTERNATIVE GOVERNMENT ANNOUNCES COMPREHENSIVE INITIATIVE IN RESPONSE TO STATE’S HANDLING OF ‘CC’ CASE

PRESS STATEMENT BY ENDA KENNY TD AND PAT RABBITTE TD

Sunday, June 25, 2006

Independent investigation and Terms of Reference for
All Party Committee

The leaders of Fine Gael and the Labour party have set out their proposals for a comprehensive response to the crisis in the criminal justice system caused by the Government’s handling of the ‘CC’ case which led to the temporary release of ‘Mr A’ – a self-confessed child rapist.

The two leaders have jointly:
· Proposed the establishment of an independent investigation under the Commission of Investigations Act 2004 to determine the facts of what went wrong in the handling of the ‘CC’ case by the State’s legal offices and relevant government departments. (See Appendix 1)
· Proposed that consideration of the Commission’s report should be part of the Terms of Reference of the proposed All Party Committee on Child Protection.
· Published their proposed Terms of Reference for the All Party Committee on Child Protection.
· Written to the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) to ask for information on cases in the judicial system which may have to be dropped because of the ‘CC’ judgment.

Commission of Investigation
In a joint statement today, Enda Kenny and Pat Rabbitte said the government’s approach of merely having a review of procedures in the Office of the Attorney General by a civil servant from the Department of Finance was totally inadequate.
Pat Rabbitte and Enda Kenny said: ‘The objectives and terms of reference of the government’s review of the ‘CC’ case are too limited and it is essentially an internal review.’

‘Any proper investigation must be about more than just procedures. It must establish the facts of what exactly went wrong in the Office of the Attorney General, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Department of Justice, as well as at Cabinet level. It must tell us who knew what in those offices, who did what or who failed to act appropriately and, in that way, assist the public in making an informed judgment as to whether or not there were any failures of political responsibility. This includes establishing why the management procedures set out for the A-G’s Office following the Father Brendan Smyth case in 1994 were not followed in the ‘CC’ case’, the two leaders said.

Report to the All Party Committee
The two parties propose that the report of the Commission of Investigation should be referred to the planned All Party Committee on Child Protection for its consideration.

The leaders said: ‘We need to make the people responsible for the ‘CC’ shambles accountable for their actions and that needs to be done in an open, transparent and democratically accountable manner. There must be no question of a smokescreen or cover-up for these serious failures in the administration and oversight of our criminal justice system, particularly as it affects the safety of our children. We want the All Party Committee to be directly involved in considering the outcome of the investigation. It is entirely legitimate and necessary to investigate what went wrong and to make appropriate recommendations while debating the substantive issues.’

Terms of Reference
Labour and Fine Gael have also published their detailed proposals for the terms of reference of the All Party Committee. (See Appendix 2)

The key issues covered by the terms of reference include:
· To review the substantive criminal law relating to sexual offences against children.
· To review the law in relation to child protection.
· To examine the issues relating to the age of consent in relation to sexual offences
· To examine court procedures in relation to child sexual abuse cases.
· To consider the implications arising from the Supreme Court decision of 23rd May 2006 in the ‘CC’ case including the desirability or otherwise of a constitutional amendment in relation to the outcome of that case.
· To receive and consider the report of the Commission of Investigation established under the Commission of Investigations Act 2004.

Letter to DPP
The two leaders also announced that they have written a joint letter to the DPP seeking information on the number of cases which have been dropped or may have to be dropped arising from the Supreme Court decision on ‘CC’. (See Appendix 3)

‘On seven separate occasions we have asked the government in the Dáil to provide this information but they have failed to do so. While there has been considerable coverage of the 18 cases of men in prison who might have been released on foot of the ‘CC’ judgment, there has been no information forthcoming about cases which were in the system but may now fall because of the Supreme Court judgment.’

‘ The public are entitled to know if any more child rapists are to walk free as a result of the ‘CC’ decision. In order to get this information, we have taken the unprecedented step of making a request directly to the DPP who is in possession of this information.’

Conclusion
‘Never again must our children be jeopardised by slow or inadequate procedures in any of the government offices responsible for their well-being, whether it be the office of Taoiseach, the office of the Attorney General or the Department of Justice. It is time to put children back at the forefront of this debate’, Pat Rabbitte and Enda Kenny said.

- ends –

Appendix 1

Information Note on Commissions of Investigation

The Commissions of Investigation Act was introduced in 2004 by the current Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell.

It was designed to provide a more effective and cost effective mechanism for inquiring into matters of public interest than Tribunals of Inquiry established under the 1921 Act.

Under Section 3-(1) of the Act a commission may be established to
investigate any matter considered by the Government to be of significant public concern, and make any reports required under this Act in relation to its investigation.

One commission has already been established with Mr. Patrick McEntee SC as its sole member.

Appendix 2

Terms of Reference proposed jointly by Fine Gael and Labour
for an All Party Committee on Child Protection

1. Review of the substantive law and related issues.
· To review the substantive criminal law relating to sexual offences against children.
· To review the law in relation to child protection.
· To examine the issues relating to the age of consent in relation to sexual offences.
· To examine court procedures in relation to child sexual abuse cases
· To consider the implications arising from the Supreme Court decision of 23rd May 2006 in the ‘CC’ case including the desirability or otherwise of a constitutional amendment in relation to the outcome of that case.

2. Independent investigation
· To receive and consider the report of the independent Commission of Investigation into the handling of the ‘CC’ case by the State’s legal offices as well as related government departments.

3. Timelines
· The Committee to present its overall report to the Oireachtas no later than the end of this year with the presentation of an interim report before the resumption of the Dáil at the end of September.


Appendix 3

Text of joint letter from the leaders of Fine Gael and the Labour Party to the Director of Public Prosecutions

23rd June 2006

Dear Director,
As you no doubt are aware, there has been considerable public disquiet about the implications of the Judgment of the Supreme Court in the case CC –v- Ireland, the Attorney General and the Director of Public Prosecutions of the 23rd of May 2006.

The potential implications of that Judgment in cases where child sex offenders were serving sentences after convictions secured under the impugned Sections 1 (1) or 2 (1) of the Criminal Law (Amendment) Act, 1935, were well illustrated by the “Mr. A” Case.

The decision of the Supreme Court on the 2nd of June 2006 to return “Mr. A” to prison has allayed some of the public’s legitimate concern – at least in the case of convicted persons.

However, there is also a deep concern surrounding the implications of the CC Judgment for cases which were pending before the Criminal Courts on the 23rd of May 2006 and where a charge under the struck down Sections of the 1935 Act was included in the Indictment.

On seven separate occasions we have made efforts in the Dáil to elicit from the Government the number of cases which may be so affected. However, the relevant information has not been forthcoming.

We, therefore, in the public interest, are taking the unusual step of writing directly to you to seek information of the number of pending prosecutions, as of the 23rd of May 2006 in which charges had been preferred under either Sections 1 (1) or 2 (1) of the 1935 Act.

We understand that you cannot give details of specific cases or speculate as to whether other charges could be brought. We are simply, in the public interest, bearing in mind the serious child protection issues involved, attempting to establish the scale of the difficulties that arise.

Your assistance in this matter would be appreciated.

Yours faithfully,


Enda Kenny, Leader of Fine Gael
Pat Rabbitte, Leader of the Labour Party.