C20

Prospective amending provision: section inserted by Criminal Justice Act 2011 (22/2011), s. 9(a), not commenced as of date of revision:

F21[5A.— (1) Subject to subsections (4) and (5), no questioning of a person detained pursuant to section 4 shall take place until such time as the person has had an opportunity to consult with a solicitor and, the period of time commencing from the time the detained person makes the request to consult a solicitor and ending upon the commencement of such a consultation, shall be excluded in reckoning a period of detention permitted by section 4.

(2) The period that may be excluded under subsection (1) shall not—

(a) in the case of a person who is detained in a Garda Síochána station between the hours of midnight and 8 a.m. where section 4(6)(c) applies, exceed 6 hours or such other shorter period as the Minister may prescribe by regulations under section 5B, or

(b) in any other case, exceed 3 hours or such other shorter period as the Minister may prescribe by regulations under section 5B.

(3) A detained person who refuses to consult with a solicitor who has made himself or herself available for the purpose of consulting with the detained person shall, in so refusing to consult with the solicitor, be deemed to have waived his or her right to consult a solicitor.

(4) Where a person detained pursuant to section 4 waives or is deemed under subsection (3) to have waived his or her right to consult a solicitor the questioning of that person may commence.

(5) A member of the Garda Síochána in charge of a Garda Síochána station may authorise the questioning of a person who is being detained pursuant to section 4 and who has not yet consulted with a solicitor where the member concerned has reasonable grounds for believing that to delay the questioning would involve a risk of—

(a) interference with, or injury to, other persons,

(b) serious loss of, or damage to, property,

(c) the destruction of, or interference with, evidence,

(d) accomplices being alerted or the securing of their apprehension being made more difficult, or

(e) hindering the recovery of property obtained as a result of an offence or the recovery of the value of any proceeds of an offence.

(6) Where an authorisation is given under subsection (5), the member in charge shall give a notice in writing in the prescribed form to the detained person which shall—

(a) state that an authorisation has been given,

(b) specify the time at which the authorisation was given together with the time at which the notice was given,

and that member shall explain to the person orally the effect of the notice so given.

(7) An authorisation under subsection (5) may be given orally or in writing and if given orally shall be recorded in writing as soon as practicable.

(8) In this section and in section 5B—

"consultation" means a consultation in private and includes consultation by means of a telephone;

"consultation in private" includes consultation within sight of a member of the Garda Síochána but not within hearing distance of the member concerned.]