Irish Judicial System in disarray after new spying scandal

Posted by Jim on March 28, 2014

The Dublin government is in crisis and the 26 County judicial system on
the point of collapse following revelations that illegal recordings
have been made of telephone conversations to and from police stations
for some three decades.

The news first emerged shortly after Garda police commissioner Martin
Callinan resigned (officially, ‘retired’) amid an ongoing scandal over
the force’s handling of motoring offences and accusations of corruption
by two Garda whistleblowers. He was also accused of spying earlier this
year when it emerged that a sweep of the Garda Siochana Ombudsman
Commission (GSOC) had found evidence of high-tech electronic
surveillance.

But the new scandal has the potential to overshadow such events, and
could see hundreds of trials aborted, judgements overturned, and
prisoners set free.

Following a Cabinet meeting yesterday, the Fine Gael-Labour government
announced the setting up of a Commission of Investigation into the
recordings. Taoiseach Enda Kenny denied opposition claims that he
“sacked” Callinan as a result of the crisis.

As the coalition government appeared to descend into chaos, denials
were issued on behalf of Minister for Justice Alan Shatter, Attorney
General Maire Whelan and senior civil servants.

A key issue is whether client-lawyer privilege was abused by the
recordings.  The nature and number of which remain unknown, but they
are understood to include every landline phone call at every major
Garda station from the 1980s.  More than 2,500 tapes have already come
to light — some of which may be “mouldy”, according to Minister for
Finance Michael Noonan — but since 2008, the calls were recorded
electronically.

While it is clear that previous administrations will face their share
of blame for the fiasco, the current government’s handling of the
situation has brought the crisis to a climax as court cases were being
halted today until more information on the spying is forthcoming.

INACTION

Public records indicate the issue of recorded telephone conversations
arose in the courts as far back as 2011. Concerns was also raised by a
report of the Ombudsman’s office in June of last year. At that time the
Ombudsman said that the ‘Garda Commissioner may wish to re-evaluate his
practise regarding the recording of such calls.’ The Ombudsman’s report
was subsequently sent to the Garda Commissioner and to the Department
of Justice.

The issue is also at the heart of legal proceedings in November
surrounding a very high profile murder case in County Cork, the 1996
death of Sophie Toscan du Plantier in 1996. It is understood this is
the case which first brought the matter to the attention of the
Attorney General, but she inexplicably failed to raise the matter
before Cabinet. She also refused to discuss the matter over the phone,
the Taoiseach said today.

Minister Shatter has attempted to sidestep criticism by insisting that
he only became aware of the secret recordings yesterday, although
admitting his department received a letter from Callinan two weeks ago
detailing the situation.

The audacious Minister for Justice eft journalists slack-jawed today
when by blamed the delay partly on his involvement on behalf of the
government in the St Patrick’s Day festivities in Mexico.

“I don’t think that any reasonable person could claim with any
credibility that there has been any inaction on my part or the part of
the government to what has undoubtedly been a series of disturbing
issues,” he said.

“Rather, we have been unflinching in our determination to face up to
past difficulties.”

COURTS IN CRISIS

As the blame game continued and pressure on Minister Shatter reached
unprecedented levels, the adjournment of an IRA trial added to sense of
disarray.

Lawyers for two men accused of IRA membership successfully applied to
the juryless Special Criminal Court today to have their trial halted
“in light of recent events”.

Barristers for the two men told the court that their clients had
telephone calls with their lawyer while in garda custody and before
they were subsequently interviewed by the gardai.

The barristers sought disclosure of any records of the phone calls that
might exist. Prosecuting counsel insisted that gardai were “completely
unaware” of any recordings.

Sinn Fein’s Gerry Adams said that it was not credible that Minister
Shatter was unaware of last June’s Ombudsman’s report.

“This is the latest in a series of debacles around An Garda Siochana,
the administration of justice and the Minister for Justice,” he said.

“Minister Shatter has on every occasion sought to protect the Garda
Commissioner who has now resigned; he tried to discredit the Garda
whistle-blowers Sergeant Maurice McCabe and former Garda John Wilson,
and he undermined the office of the Garda Ombudsman over the bugging
allegations.

“The Taoiseach has said he will not ask Minister Shatter to resign.
That is a mistake”.