Sinn Féin poised to drop opposition to Special Criminal Court
Sinn Féin is fast becoming Ireland’s party of ‘law and order’ as it is now positioned to end its long-standing opposition to the non-jury Special Criminal Court in the Twenty-Six Counties.
A motion, proposed by the party leadership is to be debated at its Ard Fheis tomorrow. The removal of their opposition to the Special Criminal Court would mean any eventual Twenty-Six County Sinn Féin government would oversee parts of a ‘Criminal & Justice’ system which up until now they have consistently opposed.
For many years, Sinn Féin has opposed the existence of the non-jury Special Criminal Court which has been used to prosecute and jail members of the IRA. Speaking in 2015, Sinn Féin’s then party president Gerry Adams said, “Sinn Féin is absolutely opposed to the existence and operation of the non-jury Special Criminal Court.”
If passed by delegates, it would mark a significant change in policy for the party, and a remarkable step away from the traditional Republican position of opposition to non-jury courts in Ireland.
The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has argued it has denied fair trial rights for half a century. Additionally, the United Nations Human Rights Council stated more than 20 years ago that “steps should be taken to end the jurisdiction of the Special Criminal Court”.
Pádraic MacCoitir, spokesperson for Lasair Dhearg, and who has faced non-jury courts on several occasions, said, “My father, Pat McCotter, Sean McCaughey and two other IRA Volunteers were sentenced in a Free State court after being captured coming from a training camp in the Wicklow mountains in 1938.”
“Subsequently, the ‘Offences Against the State Act’ was introduced in 1939, as a reaction to the ongoing activities by the IRA, and non-jury courts were formally introduced in 1972, using this Act. It allowed courts consisting of three judges – without a jury – to try and jail individuals accused of membership of banned organisations such as the IRA.”
“The year after, the British thought the courts so good, that they formalised their own version in the Six Counties. ‘Diplock Courts’, as they were known, consisted of one Judge, no jury, and like the Special Criminal Court in the south, it allowed for much easier convictions.”
“We all know the impact these courts had on those that had to face them. I myself faced non-jury courts on three occasions, with one acquittal and sentences of three years and twenty years respectively.”
“Non-jury courts have always existed as a stain on the island of Ireland, that stain is now on Sinn Féin, and will be very hard to wash out.”
“With this leadership motion, Sinn Féin have now firmly established themselves across Ireland as the party of ‘law and order’. That leadership should now issue a public apology to every member of the Republican Movement who suffered the consequences of these courts as they fulfilled their commitments as part of that Movement.”
“Those volunteers lost their liberty in the fight for an Ireland free from the persecution of discriminatory legal processes and court systems such as the non-jury Special Criminal Court. Now those very courts are poised to be supported by Sinn Féin across Ireland.”
