Criminal Justice (Mutual Assistance) Act 2008

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Interpretation (general).

2.— (1) In this Act, except where the context otherwise requires—

“Act of 1994” means the Criminal Justice Act 1994 ;

“Agreement with Iceland and Norway” means the Agreement between the European Union and the Republic of Iceland and the Kingdom of Norway on the application of certain provisions of the 2000 Convention and 2001 Protocol, done at Brussels on 19 December 2003;

“Articles 49 and 51”, in relation to the Schengen Convention, means those Articles of the Convention, as applied to the State by Council Decision (2002/192/EEC) of 28 February 2002 concerning Ireland’s request to take part in some of the provisions of the Schengen acquis, but does not include paragraph (a) (repealed by Article 2.2 of the 2000 Convention) of Article 49;

“authority” includes a person;

“1959 Convention” means the European Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters, done at Strasbourg on 20 April 1959, and includes the Additional Protocol of 17 March 1978 thereto;

“2000 Convention” means the Convention on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters between the Member States of the European Union, done at Brussels on 29 May 2000;

“2005 Convention” means the Council of Europe Convention on Laundering, Search, Seizure and Confiscation of the Proceeds from Crime and on the Financing of Terrorism, done at Warsaw on 16 May 2005;

“2005 Council Decision” means Council Decision 2005/671/JHA of 20 September 2005 on the exchange of information and co-operation concerning terrorist offences;

“1977 Terrorism Convention” means the European Convention on the Suppression of Terrorism, done at Strasbourg on 27 January 1977;

“Central Authority” means the authority mentioned in section 8 ;

“criminal conduct” means any conduct—

(a) which constitutes an offence, or

(b) which occurs in a designated state and would, if it occurred in the State, constitute an offence;

“criminal investigation”—

(a) means an investigation into whether a person has committed an offence (within the meaning of the relevant Part) under the law of the State or a designated state in respect of which, where appropriate, a request for assistance may be made under the relevant international instrument, and

(b) includes an investigation into whether a person has benefited from assets or proceeds deriving from criminal conduct or is in receipt of or controls such assets or proceeds;

“criminal proceedings” means proceedings, whether in the State or a designated state, against a person for an offence and includes—

(a) proceedings to determine whether a person has benefited from assets or proceeds deriving from criminal conduct or is in receipt of or controls such assets or proceeds,

(b) proceedings concerning measures relating to—

(i) the deferral of delivery or suspension of enforcement of a sentence or preventive measure,

(ii) conditional release, or

(iii) a stay or interruption of enforcement of a sentence or preventive measure,

(c) in relation to requests for assistance by a requesting authority in a member state—

(i) without prejudice to subsection (2)(b) of sections 74 and 75 (requests for evidence or evidential material), proceedings brought by an administrative authority in respect of conduct which is punishable under the law of the State or that state or of both of them, by virtue of being infringements of the rules of law, and where the decision may give rise to proceedings before a court having jurisdiction in particular in criminal matters,

(ii) proceedings in claims for damages arising from wrongful prosecution or conviction,

(iii) clemency proceedings,

(iv) civil actions joined to criminal proceedings, as long as the criminal court concerned has not taken a final decision in the criminal proceedings, and

(v) proceedings in respect of measures relating to—

(I) the deferral of delivery or suspension of enforcement of a sentence or preventive measure,

(II) conditional release, or

(III) a stay or interruption of enforcement of a sentence or preventive measure,

and

(d) in relation to requests for assistance by a requesting authority in a designated state (other than a member state), without prejudice to subsection (3) of sections 74 and 75 proceedings brought by an administrative authority in respect of conduct which is punishable under the law of the State or that state or of both of them, by virtue of being infringements of the rules of law, and where the decision may give rise to proceedings before a court having jurisdiction in particular in criminal matters;

“designated state” means a member state and any other state designated under section 4 ;

“EC/Swiss Confederation Agreement” means the Co-operation Agreement between the European Community and its member states, of the one part, and the Swiss Confederation, of the other part, to combat fraud and any other illegal activity to the detriment of their financial interests, done at Luxembourg on 26 October 2004;

“evidence” means oral evidence or, as appropriate, any document or thing which could be produced as evidence in criminal proceedings, including any information in non-legible form which could be converted into permanent and legible form for the purposes of those proceedings;

“Framework Decision” means Council Framework Decision (2003/577/JHA) of 22 July 2003 on the execution in the European Union of orders freezing property or evidence;

“imprisonment” includes detention and, in relation to a designated state, any other form of deprivation of liberty;

“international instrument” means any of the following agreements, or provisions of agreements, between the State and other states or another state in relation to mutual assistance in criminal matters:

(a) the 2000 Convention;

(b) the 2001 Protocol;

(c) the Agreement with Iceland and Norway;

(d) Articles 49 and 51 of the Schengen Convention;

(e) the Framework Decision;

(f) Title III of the EC/Swiss Confederation Agreement;

(g) the 2005 Council Decision;

(h) the 1959 Convention;

(i) the Second Additional Protocol;

(j) Chapter IV of the 2005 Convention;

(k) Articles 13, 14, 18, 19 and 20 of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime, done at New York on 15 November 2000;

(l) Articles 46, 49, 50 and 54 to 57 of the United Nations Convention against Corruption, done at New York on 31 October 2003;

(m) a bilateral agreement between the State and a designated state for the provision of such assistance; and

(n) any reservation or declaration made in accordance with such an instrument;

“member state” means—

(a) a member state of the European Union (other than the State), for the purposes of mutual assistance under the provisions of the 2000 Convention, 2001 Protocol, Articles 49 and 51 of the Schengen Convention, Framework Decision or 2005 Council Decision, and

(b) Iceland and Norway or any other designated state, for the purposes of mutual assistance under any of those provisions;

“Minister” means the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform;

“offence”—

(a) means an offence in respect of which a request for mutual assistance may be made under the relevant international instrument,

(b) includes a revenue offence, if or to the extent that the relevant international instrument or the law of the designated state concerned provides for mutual assistance in respect of such an offence, but

(c) does not include a political offence;

“place” means a physical location and includes—

(a) a dwelling, residence, building or abode,

(b) a site,

(c) a vehicle, whether mechanically propelled or not,

(d) a vessel, whether sea-going or not,

(e) an aircraft, whether capable of operation or not, and

(f) a hovercraft;

“political offence”, except in Part 2 —

(a) includes an offence connected with a political offence,

(b) does not include any offence in respect of which a person may be surrendered to another state under the European Arrest Warrant Act 2003 or the Extradition Acts 1965 to 2001;

“prison” means a place of custody administered by or on behalf of the Minister (other than a Garda Síochána station) and includes—

(a) St. Patrick’s Institution,

(b) a place provided under section 2 of the Prisons Act 1970 , and

(c) a place specified under section 3 of the Prisons Act 1972 ;

“property”, except in Part 4 , includes—

(a) money and all other property, real or personal, movable or immovable,

(b) a chose in action and any other intangible or incorporeal property,

(c) proceeds of the disposal of property, and

(d) evidence;

“2001 Protocol” means the Protocol to the 2000 Convention, done at Luxembourg on 16 October 2001;

“relevant international instrument” means the international instrument in accordance with which a request for assistance is made;

“request” means a request for assistance which is made by a requesting authority under and in accordance with a relevant international instrument;

“requesting authority” means—

(a) a court or tribunal exercising jurisdiction in criminal proceedings in a designated state and making a request, or

(b) any other authority in that state appearing to the Minister to have the function of making the request;

“revenue offence”—

(a) means an offence under the law of the State or a designated state in connection with taxes, duties, customs or exchange regulation,

(b) includes such an offence under the law of a designated state irrespective of whether the law of the State provides for taxes, duties, customs or exchange regulation of the same kind as that state provides, but

(c) does not include—

(i) an offence involving the use or threat of force or perjury or the forging of a document issued under statutory authority, or

(ii) an offence alleged to have been committed by an officer of the Revenue of that state in his or her capacity as such officer;

“Schengen Convention” means the Convention, signed in Schengen on 19 June 1990, implementing the Schengen Agreement of 14 June 1985;

“Second Additional Protocol” means the Second Additional Protocol of 8 November 2001 to the 1959 Convention;

“state”, in relation to a state other than the State, includes a territory, whether in the state or outside it—

(a) for whose external relations the state or its government is wholly or partly responsible, and

(b) to which the relevant international instrument applies or whose law provides for mutual assistance in criminal matters,

and “designated state” and “member state” are to be construed accordingly.

(2) Reservations made pursuant to Article 13 of the 1977 Terrorism Convention do not apply to mutual assistance in criminal matters between member states.

(3) The following provisions of this Act give effect to Council Decision (2002/192/EC) of 28 February 2002 concerning Ireland’s request to take part in some of the provisions of the Schengen acquis, in so far as those provisions relate to mutual assistance in criminal matters:

(a) paragraph (c) of the definition of “criminal proceedings” in subsection (1);

(b) subsections (1) and (2) of sections 74 and 75 ;

(c) section 82 (1)(b).

(4) Judicial notice shall be taken of a relevant international instrument.

(5) When interpreting any provision of this Act—

(a) a court may consider the relevant international instrument and any explanatory document issued in connection with it, and

(b) give the instrument and any such document such weight as is appropriate in the circumstances.

(6) For convenience of reference—

(a) Schedule 1 sets out the English text of the 2000 Convention,

(b) Schedule 2 sets out the English text of the 2001 Protocol,

(c) Schedule 3 sets out the English text of the Agreement with Iceland and Norway,

(d) Schedule 4 sets out the English text of Articles 49 and 51 of the Schengen Convention,

(e) Schedule 5 sets out the English text of the Framework Decision,

(f) Schedule 6 sets out the English text of Title III of the EC/Swiss Confederation Agreement,

(g) Schedule 7 sets out the English text of the 2005 Council Decision,

(h) Schedule 8 sets out the English text of the 1959 Convention and the First Additional Protocol thereto,

(i) Schedule 9 sets out the English text of the Second Additional Protocol to the 1959 Convention,

(j) Schedule 10 sets out the English text of Chapter IV of the 2005 Convention,

(k) Schedule 11 sets out the English text of Articles 13, 14, 18, 19 and 20 of the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organised Crime, done at New York on 15 November 2000,

(l) Schedule 12 sets out the English text of Articles 46, 49, 50 and 54 to 57 of the United Nations Convention against Corruption, done at New York on 31 October 2003,

(m) Schedule 13 sets out the English text of the Agreement on Mutual Legal Assistance between the European Union and the United States of America, done at Washington D.C. on 25 June 2003, and

(n) Schedule 14 sets out the English text of the Treaty between the Government of Ireland and the Government of the United States on Mutual Assistance in Criminal Matters, done at Washington D.C. on 18 January 2001, as applied by the Instrument contemplated by Article 3(2) of the said Agreement of 25 June 2003 and done at Dublin on 14 July 2005.