Cybercrime In Ireland - Recent Legislative Developments

Article by Pearse Ryan, Andrew Harbison and Claire O'Brien

The Criminal Justice Act 2011 (the "2011 Act") came into effect on 9th August 2011 and was enacted with the aim of granting An Garda Síochána (the Irish national police service) more extensive powers to investigate "serious and complex offences"¹ . The main areas which the 2011 Act deals with are the supply of information at investigation, detention, questioning and the summoning of witnesses. Much attention has focused on the 2011 Act as a tool in the fight against white collar crime, a topic of much interest since Ireland's economic crisis. In the press statement released by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence, Mr Alan Shatter, it was stated that the 2011 Act is "an important step in delivering on the Government's strong commitment to tackle white collar crime as set out in the Programme for Government".²