The State’s second Special Criminal Court will be operational from Monday and will “immediately” begin clearing a backlog of cases.
The Special Criminal Courts are juryless criminal courts which try terrorism and serious organised crime cases. Plans for the establishment of a second court were met with widespread criticism from human rights groups due to the absence of a jury.
Signing the rules of court for the second Special Criminal Court, Minister for Justice Frances Fitzgerald confirmed that all the necessary practical and procedural work to enable the court to begin hearing cases had been completed.
This included courtroom accommodation, ICT system changes, the appointment of court registrars and the drafting of the necessary rules of court.
“I am pleased that signing the rules of court for the two Special Criminal Courts is the final step necessary to enable the court to start dealing with the backlog of cases and in time this will lead to a reduction in waiting times for trials,” said Ms Fitzgerald.
“This underlines the Government’s continued focus to tackle serious crime affecting the security of the State and ensure that those involved in such crimes are brought swiftly to justice”.
The next available trial date in the Special Criminal Court is April 2018.
