We are at what is potentially a defining moment in the development of Irish society.

In this column, in the last issue of Hot Press, I wrote about the new Criminal Justice Bill currently being pushed through the Dail by the Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell, and the myriad dangers that are inherent in what is essentially a highly repressive piece of legislation.
What has since become increasingly clear is the extent to which the passage of the Bill is being facilitated by the major opposition parties, Fine Gael and Labour. Why? This is how I see it.
Sinn Fein have established a platform in working class areas by taking on the mantle of self-styled guardians of the community interest. Point out the drug dealers or the joyriders and we’ll have a word with them, their hugger mugger mantra runs. And if the threat of violence doesn’t work then we’ll beat the shit out of them or knee cap them or do whatever else is necessary to put them out of the game.
Of course, all it takes is the finger to be pointed at the wrong guy and for the wrong reasons – and, hey presto, you have an innocent individual limping around or the rest of his or her life. Collateral damage, the Provos lament. No one likes it, but shit happens. Can’t be avoided.
So how do the establishment political parties counter the appeal of this kind of rough justice to the people in sink estates who are feeling neglected and unloved by society in general and threatened by the youngsters they can neither understand nor relate to around them?
Here’s how. Bring another kind of rough justice to bear. This is what the Criminal Justice Bill does, in introducing On The Spot Fines, Anti-social Behaviour Orders and tagging of offenders to Ireland. In doing so, it represents a new low, displaying scant respect for human rights on the part of the legislature in Ireland.
Under the terms of the bill a Garda can serve an On The Spot Fine on an individual if he or she has reasonable grounds for believing that a person is committing or has committed an arrestable offence. The garda does not need proof, or even compelling evidence, that the person has been breaking the law.
In other words, the Gardai rather than the Provos will be empowered to act as judge, jury and executioner. Which is all very well as a populist exercise in winning votes back from Sinn Fein in Dublin working class constituencies. But the fact is that the powers being given to Gardai are wide open to abuse. Which means that, just as certainly as night follows day, we will see at least low-level miscarriages of justice as a result – and consequently an increased level of alienation.
If anyone wants to dispute this contention, with all due respect to the vast majority of decent gardai in the force, all that one needs to say is: DONEGAL. The crazy extent to which a collection of Gardai, including senior figures within the force in that part of the world, went about fabricating evidence and implicating innocent people left, right and centre should be enough to bestil the enthusiasm of any Minister for Justice for giving a high level of discretion to Gardai. But not Michael McDowell.
It may have been the most extreme instance of which we are aware, but what happened in the North West was not isolated either. In Dublin, where the issue of anti-social behaviour is most pronounced, there was the extraordinary framing of the heroin addict Dean Lyons for the murder of Sylvia Shields and Mary Callinan at Grangegorman in Dublin in 1997, after confessions were extracted from him in Bridewell Garda Station. In other words, the Gardai have a record of bending the rules if it suits their agenda.
Now, the introduction of ASBOs will allow Gardai to apply to the courts for an Anti-social Behaviour Order, which will prohibit a specified person from behaving in an offending way. This will be done by way of a civil procedure, which will make it less rigorous and more open to abuse than criminal proceedings.
Elsewhere in this issue, The Whole Hog offers five compelling reasons why ASBOs are an inappropriate response to the problem of anti-social behaviour. The bottom line is that, like on the spot fines, they are likely to be targeted at young people, and at young working class males in particular. In this there is implicit a discrimination against young people in general, which is repugnant.
Which is why hotpress has decided to join forces with the Union of Students in Ireland, as well as other opposed groups like the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and the National Youth Federation, in campaigning against the introduction of ASBOs. With the effective capitulation of Fine Gael and Labour on the issue, others have to take up the mantle of opposition.
To begin with we are launching an online petition against On The Spot Fines and ASBOs.
To do nothing while legislation of this kind is going through the Dail would be wrong. If we want our children, teenagers and young adults to have the long arm of the law reaching into their lives in the most intrusive and potentially discriminatory way then by all means relax. If this is not what we want, however, go to hotpress.com, where the petition is located and sign straight away.
There is still time for the real opposition to assert itself.