Criminal Law Act 1997
Penalties for assisting offenders.
7.—(1) Any person who aids, abets, counsels or procures the commission of an indictable offence shall be liable to be indicted, tried and punished as a principal offender.
F2[(1A) Any person who, outside the State, aids, abets, counsels or procures the commission of an indictable offence in the State shall be liable to be indicted, tried and punished as a principal offender if—
(a) the person does so on board an Irish ship,
(b) the person does so on an aircraft registered in the State,
(c) the person is an Irish citizen, or
(d) the person is ordinarily resident in the State.]
(2) Where a person has committed an arrestable offence, any other person who, knowing or believing him or her to be guilty of the offence or of some other arrestable offence, does without reasonable excuse any act F2[, whether in or outside the State,] with intent to impede his or her apprehension or prosecution shall be guilty of an offence.
F2[(2A) A person shall be guilty of an offence under subsection (2) for doing an act outside the State only if—
(a) the person does so on board an Irish ship,
(b) the person does so on an aircraft registered in the State,
(c) the person is an Irish citizen, or
(d) the person is ordinarily resident in the State.]
(3) If, upon the trial on indictment of an arrestable offence, it is proved that the offence charged, or some other offence of which the accused might on that charge be found guilty, was committed but it is not proved that the accused was guilty of it, the accused may be found guilty of an offence under subsection (2) of which it is proved that he or she is guilty in relation to the offence charged, or that other offence.
(4) A person committing an offence under subsection (2) with intent to impede another person's apprehension or prosecution shall be liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment according to the gravity of the offence that the other person has committed or attempted to commit, as follows:
(a) if that offence is one for which the sentence is fixed by law, or for which the maximum sentence is imprisonment for life, he or she shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years;
(b) if it is one for which a person of full capacity and not previously convicted may be sentenced to imprisonment for a term of fourteen years, he or she shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years;
(c) if it is not one included in paragraph (a) or (b) but is one for which a person of full capacity and not previously convicted may be sentenced to imprisonment for a term of ten years, he or she shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years;
(d) in any other case, he or she shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years.
(5) Where a person is charged with an offence under subsection (2), no further proceedings in the matter (other than any remand in custody or on bail) shall be taken except by or with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
(6) The references in the following provisions, namely subsection (1) of section 13 (which relates to a plea of guilty in the District Court of an indictable offence) and subsection (1) (f) of section 29 (which relates to bail in the case of certain offences) of the Criminal Procedure Act, 1967, to an accessory before or after the fact shall be construed as references to aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring the commission of an offence, and to an offence under subsection (2).
(7) The First Schedule to the Criminal Justice Act, 1951 (which specifies the indictable offences which may be tried summarily with the consent of the accused) is hereby amended by the insertion of the following reference:
“24. An offence under section 7 (2) of the Criminal Law Act, 1997.”.
F2[(8) A person who has his or her principal residence in the State for the 12 months immediately preceding the commission of an offence referred to in subsection (1A) or an offence under subsection (2) is, for the purposes of subsection (1A)(d) or (in the case of an offence under subsection (2)) subsection (2A)(d), taken to be ordinarily resident in the State on the date of the commission of the offence.
(9) In this section "Irish ship" has the meaning it has in section 9 of the Mercantile Marine Act 1955. ]
Annotations
Amendments:
F2
Inserted (23.07.2009) by Criminal Justice (Amendment) Act 2009 (32/2009), s. 19(1) and (2), commenced on enactment.
F3
Substituted by Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) Act 2014 (43/2014), s. 68 and sch. 4, not commenced as of date of revision.
Modifications (not altering text):
C4
Prospective affecting provision: subs. (9) amended by Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) Act 2014 (43/2014), s. 68 and sch. 4, not commenced as of date of revision.
Penalties for assisting offenders
(9) In this section ‘Irish ship’ has the meaning it has in F3[section 33 of the Merchant Shipping (Registration of Ships) Act 2014].
C5
Application of section restricted (31.12.2021) by Criminal Justice (Smuggling of Persons) Act 2021 (42/2021), s. 9(2), S.I. No. 772 of 2021.
Offences under Part 2: further provisions
9. (1) It shall be a defence in any proceedings against a person for an offence under section 6, 7 or 8 for the person charged with the offence to prove, on the balance of probabilities, that the conduct alleged to constitute the offence was engaged in by him or her—
(a) in order to provide, in the course of his or her work on behalf of a bona fide organisation, assistance to a person seeking international protection in the State or equivalent status in another state if the purposes of that organisation include giving assistance without charge to persons seeking such protection or status, or
(b) for the purpose of providing humanitarian assistance, otherwise than for the purpose of obtaining, directly or indirectly, a financial or material benefit.
(2) Notwithstanding section 7 of the Criminal Law Act 1997, it shall not be an offence for a person to aid, abet, counsel or procure another person to commit an offence under section 6, 7 or 8 relating to the entry into, transit across or presence in the State, or a designated State, of the first-mentioned person.
C6
Application of section extended (15.07.2010) by Criminal Justice (Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing) Act 2010 (6/2010), s. 11(7)-(9), S.I. No. 342 of 2010.
Presumptions and other matters.
11. ...
(7) Subsections (2) to (6) extend to proceedings for an offence under —
(a) section 10, or
(b) section 7(1) of the Criminal Law Act 1997 of aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring the commission of an offence under section 7, 8 or 9,
and for that purpose any reference to an accused in subsections (2) to (6) is to be construed as a reference to a person who committed, or is alleged to have committed, the offence concerned.
(8) In proceedings for an offence under this Part, or an offence under section 7(1) of the Criminal Law Act 1997 referred to in subsection (7)(b), it is not necessary, in order to prove that property is the proceeds of criminal conduct, to establish that—
(a) a particular offence or a particular class of offence comprising criminal conduct was committed in relation to the property, or
(b) a particular person committed an offence comprising criminal conduct in relation to the property.
(9) In proceedings for an offence under this Part, or an offence under section 7(1) of the Criminal Law Act 1997 referred to in subsection (7)(b), it is not a defence for the accused to show that the accused believed the property concerned to be the proceeds of a particular offence comprising criminal conduct when in fact the property was the proceeds of another offence.