Status of investigation requested by Minister for Justice and Equality into matters arising from O’Higgins Commission
Status of investigation requested by Minister for Justice and Equality into matters arising from O’Higgins Commission
Update 22 November 2017
The Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission issued an update on the 12th of January 2017 having obtained a court order for access to documentation from the O’Higgins Commission. The documents were delivered to GSOC on the 20th of February 2017 and on reviewing the documents it was discovered that one of the transcripts was incomplete. The remaining documentation was supplied on the 1st of March 2017 to GSOC. There was further correspondence with the Chief State Solicitor’s Office about matters arising from the documents supplied and on the 13th of March 2017 GSOC was informed that instructions were being taken. GSOC received a reply to our letter of the 7th of March 2017 on the 19th of April 2017. The possibility of a further court order was raised. There was then correspondence with the solicitors for Sgt Maurice McCabe who agreed to supply documentation to GSOC. That documentation was received on the 8th of June 2017. This has avoided further court applications at the moment.
The collation of documentation was necessary as the investigation was on foot of a request by the Minister for Justice and Equality under s 102 (5) of the Garda Síochána Act 2005. Outside of the letter from the Minister with accompanying letter from the Garda Commissioner, GSOC had no other documentation or information on which to commence the necessary steps in an investigation. GSOC had not been privy to what had occurred during the relevant module of the O’Higgins Commission.
During this period when there was this important collection of documentation required to commence an investigation, the Disclosures Tribunal was established on the 16th of February 2017. GSOC has been conscious of the involvement of Sgt McCabe with that Tribunal and concerned about an overlap between some of the matters under investigation by the Disclosures Tribunal and GSOC. GSOC is anxious not to trespass on matters which will be in the public hearings before Mr. Justice Peter Charleton.
The investigation has commenced and has been designated for investigation under s 95 of the Garda Síochána Act 2005 and will progress in the normal way. S 95 applies when the conduct complained of does not appear to constitute an offence but gives rise to possible breaches of the Garda Disciplinary Regulations. It does not preclude an investigation under s 98 – an investigation into a complaint that appears to involve criminal offences – if the investigation reveals such evidence.
GSOC is dealing with a number of significant investigations – Templemore, the circumstances leading up to the death of Garda Tony Golden – alongside the O’Higgins Commission investigation. The resources issue continues and unfortunately leads to delays. These delays could be mitigated by the provision of further investigators, such as has been made available for the investigation of protected disclosures.
Update 12 January 2017
We have noted the Judge’s order, following a High Court application, to provide GSOC with access to documentation from the O’Higgins Commission.
This application was based on a request by the Minister for Justice and Equality under s.102(5) of the Garda Síochána Act, for GSOC to commence an investigation into matters discussed in a meeting that had seemingly been held between members of An Garda Síochána.
We expect the documentation within 6 six weeks of the order being signed. Once the documentation is received, the investigation can commence.
Original News Item 26 October 2016
In June 2016, the Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission was requested by the Minister for Justice and Equality, under section 102(5) of the Garda Síochána Act 2005, to investigate certain matters arising from the O’Higgins Commission.
We were requested to establish the facts in relation to a reference, which was reportedly made during the course of the O’Higgins Commission, to matters discussed in a meeting that had seemingly been held between members of An Garda Síochána.
GSOC was not party to events occurring during this Commission of Investigation. Therefore we have had to request the documentation related to this reported occurrence.
We wrote first of all to the Garda Commissioner, requesting that any documentation of relevance to this matter held by the Garda Síochána be sent to GSOC. The Garda Commissioner was not in a position to give us the documentation because of provisions of the Commission of Investigations Act 2004.
We then sought the documentation from the Department of Justice. The Department was unable to release the documentation required to commence the investigation for the same reasons.
Therefore it appears that a court application will be required, to obtain the necessary order. We have sought the relevant legal advice.