The Sixteenth Amendment of the Constitution Act 1996 (previously

bill Bill(s) may refer to: Common meanings * Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States) * Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature * Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer * Bill, a bird or animal's beak Plac ...

no. 49 of 1996) is an

amendment An amendment is a formal or official change made to a law, contract, constitution, or other legal document. It is based on the verb to amend, which means to change for better. Amendments can add, remove, or update parts of these agreements. The ...

of the

Constitution of Ireland The Constitution of Ireland ( ga, Bunreacht na hÉireann, ) is the fundamental law of Ireland. It asserts the national sovereignty of the Irish people. The constitution, based on a system of representative democracy, is broadly within the traditi ...

which provides that a court can refuse

bail Bail is a set of pre-trial restrictions that are imposed on a suspect to ensure that they will not hamper the judicial process. Bail is the conditional release of a defendant with the promise to appear in court when required. In some countrie ...

to a suspect where it feared that while at liberty they would commit a serious criminal offence. It was approved by

referendum A referendum (plural: referendums or less commonly referenda) is a direct vote by the electorate on a proposal, law, or political issue. This is in contrast to an issue being voted on by a representative. This may result in the adoption of a ...

on 28 November 1996 and signed into law on 12 December of the same year.

Background

In ''People (AG) v O'Callaghan'' (1966), the Supreme Court had ruled that the provisions of Article 40.4, which guarantees personal liberty and the principle of ''

habeas corpus ''Habeas corpus'' (; from Medieval Latin, ) is a recourse in law through which a person can report an unlawful detention or imprisonment to a court and request that the court order the custodian of the person, usually a prison official, t ...

'', meant that an individual charged with a crime could only be refused bail if they were likely to flee or to interfere with witnesses or evidence. In a 1976 Dáil debate on "the breakdown in law and order",

Paddy Cooney Patrick Mark Cooney (born 2 March 1931) is a former Irish Fine Gael politician who served as a government minister in the cabinets of Liam Cosgrave (1973–1977) and Garret FitzGerald (1981–1982 and 1982–1987). He served as a Member of the ...

, the Minister for Justice in the Fine Gael–Labour coalition, said the government favoured a referendum on reducing the right to bail. A

Law Reform Commission A law commission, law reform commission, or law revision commission is an independent body set up by a government to conduct law reform; that is, to consider the state of laws in a jurisdiction and make recommendations or proposals for legal chang ...

report published in August 1995 and chaired by former Supreme Court judge Anthony Hederman considered legal approaches to bail. The Sixteenth Amendment made it possible for a court to take into account whether or not a person had committed serious crimes while on bail in the past. The amendment was introduced by the

Fine Gael Fine Gael (, ; English: "Family (or Tribe) of the Irish") is a liberal-conservative and Christian-democratic political party in Ireland. Fine Gael is currently the third-largest party in the Republic of Ireland in terms of members of Dáil � ...

– Labour Party– Democratic Left government led by

Taoiseach The Taoiseach is the head of government, or prime minister, of Ireland. The office is appointed by the president of Ireland upon the nomination of Dáil Éireann (the lower house of the Oireachtas, Ireland's national legislature) and the o ...

John Bruton John Gerard Bruton (born 18 May 1947) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Taoiseach from 1994 to 1997, Ambassador of the European Union to the United States from 2004 to 2009, Leader of Fine Gael from 1990 to 2001, Leader o ...

Changes to the text

Insertion of new Article 40.4.7º: Note: This provision was renumbered as 40.4.6º by the

Twenty-first Amendment of the Constitution of Ireland The Twenty-first Amendment of the Constitution Act 2001 (previously bill no. 16 of 2001) is an amendment of the Constitution of Ireland which introduced a constitutional ban on the death penalty and removed all references to capital punishment ...

in 2002.

Oireachtas debate

A similar proposal had been proposed by

Fianna Fáil Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christia ...

Justice Spokesperson John O'Donoghue on 8 June 1995. On 4 October 1995, this was rejected by 65 votes to 47. On 16 October 1996, Minister for Justice

Nora Owen Nora Owen (; born 1 June 1945) is an Irish former Fine Gael politician who served as Minister for Justice from 1994 to 1997 and Deputy Leader of Fine Gael from 1993 to 2001. She served as a Teachta Dála (TD) for the Dublin North constituency ...

proposed the Sixteenth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 1996. It was supported by the two major opposition parties,

and the

Progressive Democrats The Progressive Democrats ( ga, An Páirtí Daonlathach, literally "The Democratic Party" ), commonly referred to as the PDs, was a conservative-liberal political party in the Republic of Ireland. Launched on 21 December 1985 by Desmond O'Ma ...

, and passed final stages in the Dáil on the same day. It passed final stages in the Seanad on 23 October and proceeded to a referendum on 28 November 1996.

Result

Aftermath

The Bail Act 1997 was passed as the provision to be made by law arising from the amendment.

References

External links

Sixteenth Amendment of the Constitution Act 1996Oireachtas Debates on the Sixteenth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 1996Oireachtas Debates on the Fifteenth Amendment of the Constitution Bill 1995
{{Amendments of the Constitution of Ireland 1996 in Irish law 1996 in Irish politics 1996 referendums 16 Bail 16 November 1996 events in Europe Amendment, 16