Early morning Garda raids, conditions in Garda stations [ foul smells and bedding “no reasonable person would wish to use “ ] also commented on by Supreme Court in Gormley and White 6/3/2014 judgment . – Very Important Supreme Court decision for the rights of suspects. “For one reason or another, the detention of suspects for the purpose of interrogation often occurs very early in the morning. It may occur properly, discretely, tactfully and with due recognition for arrested persons’ position as presumptively innocent persons. But it may occur in circumstances of unnecessarily heightened drama, sirens, breaking of doors, disturbance and trauma to spouses and children, and the rushing of handcuffed suspects out of their houses and into official vehicles. All of the people are presumptively innocent; most are innocent in fact and are not even charged at any stage. It is necessary to observe that treatment of the kind just described will have no effect whatever on a hardened criminal. On the other hand, to an innocent person, or a person with little or no prior experience of the criminal law such treatment may be absolutely terrifying, destructive at least for the time being of their dignity and autonomy and such as may wholly undermine their ability to give a proper account of themselves. If, in addition, such a person is, shortly after arrival at a garda station, thrust into a cell and locked in there to await the next development, his position is considerably worsened. Many cells in Garda stations are frankly unsanitary and in a condition such that no normal person would wish to spend time there. Foul smells are not uncommon. They may be in a permanent state of semi-darkness, lighting, or the extinguishment of lights, being controlled from outside only. The seating or bedding may be such that no reasonable person would wish to use it. The sense of being in someone else’s power may be utterly overwhelming especially to an inexperienced or sensitive person, or to an entirely innocent person. The noisy closing of a cell door, and the turning of a heavy key, leaving one alone in fetid semi-darkness is not an ideal preparation for what may well be the most important confrontation of one’s life. Is it really necessary to bring persons to a Garda station in such dramatic and disorienting circumstances? Is it necessary to do so with no notice at all, so as to make the delay in taking legal advice inescapable? In some cases this will be necessary, but is this so in every case? Much expense to the State, and trauma to innocent persons, might be easily avoidable. And if early morning raids are thought necessary from a Garda point of view, should the detained person pay for this in the form of extended detention periods, to allow legal advice to be taken? I agree with the judgment of Mr. Justice Clarke in distinguishing between a detention for questioning and a detention solely for the purpose of taking scientific sample about whose taking there is no option for the defendant: they must be given. I should like to add, however, that the distinction between these two types of custody must be fully and properly explained in ordinary language by the gardaí. There can be no question of taking a sample under compulsory process and then going on to directly question the defendant about a crime, or even to “chat” about it, without the defendant’s quite different rights in this area being fully and accurately explained. In my opinion, it is important that every formal stage of detention in the Garda Station, from the original decision to detain onwards, and in particular the explanation of the rights to consult a solicitor, should be both audio and video-recorded. In my opinion, a failure to do this requires explanation: the suggestion that there was an earlier, or different, conversation on this subject before the recording started, or after it finished, or while the recording machines were turned off, should trigger scepticism on the part of any court asked to consider it.”
Posted on: Sun, 09 Mar 2014 17:05:20 +0000
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