Criminal Justice Act 2017

The Criminal Justice Act 2017 was enacted on 28 June 2017. The purpose of this Act is to strengthen the law on Bail.

The main provisions of the Act are:

• in refusing bail, a court may also take into account persistent serious offending by the accused and the likelihood of any danger to a person or the community if the accused was granted bail
• the strengthening of Garda powers to deal with breaches of bail
• the range of conditions that may be attached to bail are expanded to include:

i) prohibiting contact by the accused with the victim or a member of the victim’s family

ii) prohibiting the accused from driving where the offence charged is a serious road traffic offence

iii) the imposition of a night-time curfew

• enabling electronic monitoring to be made a condition of bail on the application of the prosecution.
• when considering a bail application, courts may hear evidence from the victim regarding the possibility of interference by the accused with the victim or a family member
• courts to give reasons for granting or refusing bail and for imposing any conditions of bail

Act, Bill, Explanatory Memorandum and Debates