Gangland criminals will be tried in the same court as terrorists under new laws .

Gangland criminals will be tried in the same court as terrorists under new laws
The move is among a raft of measures to be brought in by the end of the year as the Government tackles the country’s gangs. Attorney General Paul Gallagher has approved legislation to go to Cabinet tomorrow, allowing the DPP to prosecute major criminals in the nonjury court. The move is part of a major package of anti-gangland laws, including new 15-year sentences for directing or involvement with a criminal gang.
Tougher sentences will also be imposed for those who threaten witnesses.
The plans come after 10 gangland murders in Dublin alone this year. Charges have not been brought in relation to any of the killings at this point.
It also follows an anti-crime march in Limerick yesterday, led by local businessman Roy Collins, whose son Steve was shot dead last month. It was attended by 5,000 people. The Attorney General's sign-off on the proposed laws indicate constitutional hurdles over the legislation have been overcome. Retired detective superintendent PJ Browne, who policed underworld crime in Dublin's south city, said the judiciary's response to the moves by Brian Cowen's Government will be crucial. He said courts have not always acted in the way expected to by the legislators. "You have to ask will this law be akin to the Drug Trafficking Act, where there is a mandatory 10-year sentence for certain drugs offences, which has never been accepted by the courts," he said. "Instead the judiciary has made its own mind up on the laws." The proposals are separate to the Criminal Justice (Surveillance) Bill, which is currently before the Oireachtas. That law governs the use of phone taps and other secret surveillance procedures against criminals. It will be voted on in the coming weeks and could be in force by the end of the year. The move to try gangland offenses in the three-judge Special Criminal Court has been used in the past by the DPP. Drug boss John Gilligan was tried and convicted on drugs offences, and his associate, Brian Meehan, was also found guilty of murdering journalist Veronica Guerin. The move to prosecute serious offences has been repeatedly called for by commentators, including Herald columnist Gerry O'Carroll. It has been welcomed by law enforcement agencies, but some experts have questioned how it may be implemented by the courts. The Special Criminal Court, at Green Street in Dublin, is usually used to try those suspected of terror offences. Justice Minister Dermot Ahern said that he wanted the same powers available to combat terror organisations to be applied to crime gangs. He said: "These are not decisions that any normal society would take lightly, but particularly in Limerick and in some places in Dublin, there is intimidation of people who have been involved in court case and we have to take cognisance of that." He outlined that internment of suspects was not an option but that more weight would be given to the evidence of gardai. "There is no doubt that the killing of Roy Collins showed clearly that these criminal gangs are willing to kill family members of people who become involved in court cases against them," he said. The Minister also said it is envisaged "that a new offence of directing a criminal gang would be created, along with an offence of involvement in criminal activity in association with a criminal gang, with a maximum penalty of 15 years".
Mr Ahern said the aim was that such offences would be tried in the Special Criminal Court and that it would be more difficult for suspects to be awarded bail. There may also be post-release supervision similar to that used for sex offenders.
"In essence," he said, "what we're trying to make available is that powers that were available to combating subversives organisations, terrorist organisations that would be similarly applied to criminal gangs."