Criminal Justice (Mutual Assistance) Act 2008
Identification evidence for use in State.
77.— (1) Where it appears to a judge of any court that—
(a) criminal proceedings have been instituted or a criminal investigation is taking place, and
(b) identification evidence for the purposes of the proceedings or investigation may be obtained from an authority in a designated state,
the judge may issue a letter (a “letter of request”) requesting assistance in obtaining the evidence.
(2) Application for a letter of request may be made by the Director of Public Prosecutions or a person charged in any proceedings that have been instituted.
(3) The letter of request shall be sent to—
(a) the Central Authority for transmission to the appropriate authority, or
(b) in urgent cases, directly to that authority.
(4) Notwithstanding subsections (1) to (3), where proceedings for an offence have been instituted or an offence is being investigated, the Director of Public Prosecutions may issue and transmit a letter of request directly to the appropriate authority.
(5) The letter of request shall include—
(a) a statement that the evidence is required for the purpose of criminal proceedings or a criminal investigation and will be returned to the appropriate authority when no longer required for that purpose, unless the authority indicates otherwise,
(b) a brief description of the conduct constituting the offence concerned, F79[…]
F80[(ba) in the case of a request pursuant to Article 7 of the 2008 Council Decision, or that Article insofar as it is applied by Article 1 of the 2009 Agreement with Iceland and Norway, for the DNA profile of a person who is suspected of having committed the offence concerned whose DNA profile is not in the possession of the appropriate authority, a statement issued by the Commissioner of the Garda Síochána or the Director of Public Prosecutions, as may be appropriate, confirming that the requirements for the taking of a DNA sample from the person under the law of the State would be complied with if the person were in the State, and]
(c) any other available information that may assist the appropriate authority in complying with the request.
(6) Evidence obtained by virtue of this section shall not, without the consent of the appropriate authority, be used for any purpose other than that specified in the letter of request.
(7) When any such evidence is no longer required for that purpose (or for any other purpose for which such consent has been obtained), it shall be returned to the appropriate authority unless the authority indicates that it need not be returned.
(8) In any proceedings a document purporting to be—
(a) a report of the taking of the identification evidence in the designated state and to be signed by, and to state the rank or other qualification of, the person who took the evidence, or
(b) a record of the evidence kept by the appropriate authority and certified by it or on its behalf,
is admissible, without further proof, as evidence of the matters stated in it.
(9) In this section, “appropriate authority” means the authority in the designated state concerned appearing to the Director of Public Prosecutions to possess the identification evidence requested or to have the function of obtaining or arranging to obtain it.
Annotations
Amendments:
F79
Deleted (20.11.2015) by Criminal Justice (Forensic Evidence and DNA Database System) Act 2014 (11/2014), s. 130(a), S.I. No. 508 of 2015.
F80
Inserted (20.11.2015) by Criminal Justice (Forensic Evidence and DNA Database System) Act 2014 (11/2014), s. 130(b), S.I. No. 508 of 2015.
Modifications (not altering text):
C5
Application of subs. (7) restricted (20.11.2015) by Criminal Justice (Forensic Evidence and DNA Database System) Act 2014 (11/2014), s. 125(7), S.I. No. 508 of 2015, subject to restriction in art. 2(g).
Correction of inaccurate data, destruction of incorrectly supplied data and storage of data
125.—...
(7) Subject to subsection (8) and notwithstanding section 77(7) of the Act of 2008, a data controller shall destroy data received pursuant to an Article 7 request when they are no longer required for the purpose for which they were supplied and, in any event, shall do so not later than the expiration of the maximum period (if any) prescribed by the law of the Member State concerned or Iceland or Norway, as the case may be, and specified by the authority in that Member State or Iceland or Norway, as the case may be, at the time the data were supplied.
(8) Where, under subsection (6) or (7), a national contact point or a data controller, as the case may be, reasonably believes that the destruction of the data concerned would prejudice the interests of the data subject, the data shall instead be blocked and those data may be supplied or otherwise further processed only for a purpose relating to the protection of those interests.
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