Criminal

• Public Policy

  Actions and decisions to address societal issues
• Social Policy

  Policies focused on enhancing social well-being
• The law is an engine of public policy, it has objectives to further a socially desirable objective
• Irish criminal law is heavily influenced by English criminal law
• Criminal law must not conflict with the Constitution or the ECHR
• Director of Public Prosecutions

  An independent office holder who prosecutes in the name of the People of Ireland
• Prosecution of Offences Act 1974

  The decision of whether or not to prosecute depends on the strength of the evidence, and whether it is in the public interest to prosecute
• The vast majority of crimes (over 99%) are tried in the District Court
• Most common offences

  • Road traffic offences
  • Theft
  • Public order
  • Criminal damage
• Agencies that may prosecute criminal offences

  • Revenue Commissioners
  • Environmental Protection Agency
  • Competition and Consumer Protection Commission
  • Health and Safety Authority
• When someone pleads guilty there is no trial
• Where criminal cases are tried

  • District Court - by judge alone if they are minor offences
  • Circuit Criminal Court - by a jury if they are non-minor offences other than murder and rape
  • Central Criminal Court - by a jury if they are murder and rape cases
  • Special Criminal Court - terrorism and gang-related crimes
• Trial on indictment


  • A judge presides over the trial and directs the jury on the law prior to their deliberations (charges the jury)
  • The jury deliberates and returns a verdict of guilty or innocent
  • The judge passes sentence if the jury convict
• A criminal trial that occurs where the plaintiff is acquitted, this is not a precedent
• Criminal trials are about a factual issue, whether the plaintiff is innocent or guilty based on the evidence
• Article 15.5.1 of the Constitution


  The Oireachtas shall not declare acts to be infringements of the law which were not so at the date of their commission
• Article 38.1 of the Constitution


  No person shall be tried on any criminal charge save in due course of law
• Protections stemming from Art.38(1)


  • Presumption of innocence
  • Proof beyond reasonable doubt
  • Trial by court
  • Legal aid
  • Right to silence
  • Cross-examination
  • Protection from unconstitutionally obtained evidence
  • Protection against double jeopardy
  • Right to an early trial
• Criminal Justice Act 1964, s. 4

  Where a person kills another unlawfully the killing shall not be murder unless the accused person intended to kill, or cause serious injury to, some person, whether the person actually killed or not. The accused person shall be presumed to have intended the natural and probable consequences of his conduct; but this presumption may be rebutted.
• Actus Reus

  The action part of the offence
• Mens Rea

  The mental element of the offence
• Offence = actus reus + mens rea + no defence
• An act does not make a person guilty of crime unless his/her mind is guilty
• However, there are offences which do not require a mental element - strict liability and criminal negligence offence
• Actus Reus

  The external element of a crime, the conduct or physical action, its result, and the surrounding circumstances
• Actus Reus includes

  • Acts of the defendant
  • Consequences
  • Circumstances surrounding the defendants' actions
  • Failure to act
• Conduct crimes

  Criminalise an act - e.g. dangerous driving, possession of firearms
• Result crimes

  Criminalise the consequences of an act - e.g. dangerous driving causing death, murder
• The law does not criminalise omissions (failure to act)
• Circumstances in which an omission may give rise to liability

  • Special relationship between accused and victim
  • Voluntary assumption of responsibility
  • Creation of danger
  • Duty under contract
  • Statutory duty to act
• Statutory duty to act: Duties if you fail to fulfil then you can be liable to criminal sanction

  e.g. s.12 Road Traffic Act 2010 - failure to give a breath sample
• Abolition of felonies and misdemeanours in the Criminal Law Act 1997 brought about the abolition of misprision of felony
• Can be used even though found to breach ECHR
• Withholding Legislation

  Changes depending on what type of information. The public are meant to know that you are meant to be proactive with all information.
• Offences against the State (Amendment) Act 1998

  Section 9(1) - serious offence

  Section 9(2) - a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years or both

  Section 8(1) - "serious offence" means an offence which satisfies both of the following conditions: (a) it is an offence for which a person of full age and capacity and not previously convicted may, under or by virtue of any enactment, be punished by imprisonment for a term of 5 years or by a more severe penalty, and (b) it is an offence that involves loss of human life, serious personal injury (other than injury that constitutes an offence of a sexual nature), false imprisonment or serious loss of or damage to property or a serious risk of any such loss, injury, imprisonment, or damage
• Criminal Justice Act 2011 (white collar crimes)


  Section 19(1) - financial or theft

  Section 19(2) - (a) class A fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or both, or (b) fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 5 years or both
• Criminal Justice (Withholding of Information on Offences against Children and Vulnerable Persons) Act 2012, s.2


  The penalty is linked to the severity of the crime that information is being withheld about
• Causation

  Must be proven that the person's acts led directly to the specific outcome/event
• For reasons of public policy liability needs to be placed on first aggressor, not the person who tried to help.

  Look at who contributed the most to the end consequence
• Factual Causation

  A specific action directly leading to an outcome. i.e. if you remove the action, the result would not occur