SEVEN day detention for suspects and the right of Customs officers to participate in questioning are among the key provisions of the Government's drug trafficking Bill which has been published by the Minister for Justice, Ms Owen.
Fianna Fail has described the Bill as a "poorly watered down replica" of its own Bill, published last month. The detention provision has been condemned as a "charter for false confessions" by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL).
The Government first announced the long awaited Criminal Justice (Drug Trafficking) Bill (1996) last year as part of an anti drugs package. It represents "one [of the strongest anti crime pieces of legislation ever introduced in the State", Ms Owen said yesterday.
The Bill allows for an increase in the powers of detaining drug trafficking suspects for a maximum period of seven days and permits customs officers to "be present at, or participate in" the questioning of drug trafficking suspects.
Suspects must be brought before a court within 48 hours for further detention, and the Bill also allows for detaining suspected "stuffers and swallowers" who may have concealed drugs on their persons. Members of the Garda Siochna "not below the rank of superintendent" may issue search warrants in drug trafficking cases where the warrant is urgently required.
The Bill was welcomed as a "belated response" by both Fianna Fail and the Progressive Democrats. However, the Fianna Fail justice spokesman, Mr John O'Donoghue, said it was a "poorly watered down replica" of part one of his party's Misuse of Drugs Bill.
"It is no coincidence that the Minister should publish her Bill on the morning after the Fianna Fail Bill passed through second stage in the Dail," Mr O'Donoghue said in a statement.
The Fianna Fail legislation would have allowed ex parte (on behalf of or in the presence of one side or party only) application where the suspect must be brought before a court within 48 hours for further detention, Mr O'Donoghue said.
"Under the legislation published, the Garda will actually have to go to court and divulge all of the information which they have in relation to the suspect. Clearly this is no way to conduct criminal investigations."
The Fianna Fail legislation also provided for the abolition of the "cumbersome system" of preliminary examination of indictable offences obtaining in the district court, replacing it with a "fast track system" guaranteeing trial within 90 days of arrest, Mr O'Donoghue said.
The PD spokeswoman on justice, Ms Liz O'Donnell, said her party had proposed that the absolute right to silence should he abolished, with safeguards introduced such as the video taping of interviews.
"This Government has voted down every constructive proposal posed by the PDs to strengthen the law in relation to bail, and reform of the law in relation to arrest and detention of suspects," Ms O'Donnell said.
The ICCL has accused the Government of hypocrisy in seeking to end the emergency laws in Britain and Northern Ireland while introducing similar measures here through this legislation.
"Seven day detention is designed to break down people's resistance and get them to sign confessions," the group said in a statement.
"It particularly targets the weak and vulnerable, and has led to false confessions and serious miscarriages of justice in Britain and the North. It was associated with serious abuses when it was last used in this jurisdiction in the mid 1970s."
The provision for court appearances would do nothing to stop the psychological pressure caused by prolonged interrogation, the ICCL said.
