PART 2

Suppression of Terrorist Groups and Terrorist Offences

4. —In this Part—

“Framework Decision” means the Framework Decision on Combating Terrorism adopted by the Council of the European Union at Luxembourg on 13 June 2002, the text of which is set out for convenience of reference in—

(a) Part 1 of Schedule 1, in the case of the Irish language text, and

(b) Part 2 of Schedule 1, in the case of the English language text;

“terrorist activity” means an act that is committed in or outside the State and that—

(a) if committed in the State, would constitute an offence specified in Part 1 of Schedule 2, and

(b) is committed with the intention of—

(i) seriously intimidating a population,

(ii) unduly compelling a government or an international organisation to perform or abstain from performing an act, or

(iii) seriously destabilising or destroying the fundamental political, constitutional, economic or social structures of a state or an international organisation;

“terrorist group” has the same meaning as in the Framework Decision;

“terrorist-linked activity” means an act—

(a) that is committed in or outside the State and that—

(i) if committed in the State, would constitute an offence specified in Part 2 of Schedule 2, and

(ii) is committed with a view to engaging in a terrorist activity,

or

(b) that is committed in or outside the State and that—

(i) if committed in the State, would constitute an offence specified in Part 3 of Schedule 2, and

(ii) is committed with a view to engaging in a terrorist activity or with a view to committing an act that, if committed in the State, would constitute an offence under section 21 or 21A of the Act of 1939.

5. —(1) A terrorist group that engages in, promotes, encourages or advocates the commission, in or outside the State, of a terrorist activity is an unlawful organisation within the meaning and for the purposes of the Offences against the State Acts 1939 to 1998 and section 3 of the Criminal Law Act 1976 .

(2) For the purposes of this Act, the Offences against the State Acts 1939 to 1998 and section 3 of the Criminal Law Act 1976 apply with any necessary modifications and have effect in relation to a terrorist group referred to in subsection (1) as if that group were an organisation referred to in section 18 of the Act of 1939.

(3) Subsections (1) and (2) are not to be taken to be limited by any other provision of this Act that refers to provisions of the Offences against the State Acts 1939 to 1998 or that makes provisions of those Acts applicable in relation to offences under this Act.

(4) Subsections (1) and (2) apply whether the terrorist group is based in or outside the State.

6. —(1) Subject to subsections (2) to (4), a person is guilty of an offence if the person—

(a) in or outside the State—

(i) engages in a terrorist activity or a terrorist-linked activity,

(ii) attempts to engage in a terrorist activity or a terrorist-linked activity, or

(iii) makes a threat to engage in a terrorist activity,

or

(b) commits outside the State an act that, if committed in the State, would constitute—

(i) an offence under section 21 or 21A of the Act of 1939, or

(ii) an offence under section 6 of the Act of 1998.

(2) Subsection (1) applies to an act committed outside the State if the act—

(a) is committed on board an Irish ship,

(b) is committed on an aircraft registered in the State,

(c) is committed by a person who is a citizen of Ireland or is resident in the State,

(d) is committed for the benefit of a legal person established in the State,

(e) is directed against the State or an Irish citizen, or

(f) is directed against—

(i) an institution of the European Union that is based in the State, or

(ii) a body that is based in the State and is set up in accordance with the Treaty establishing the European Community or the Treaty on European Union.

(3) Subsection (1) applies also to an act committed outside the State in circumstances other than those referred to in subsection (2), but in that case the Director of Public Prosecutions may not take, or consent to the taking of, proceedings referred to in section 43 (2) for an offence in respect of that act except as authorised by section 43 (3).

(4) Subsection (1) does not apply in respect of—

(a) the activities of armed forces during an armed conflict insofar as those activities are governed by international humanitarian law, or

(b) the activities of the armed forces of a state in the exercise of their official duties insofar as those activities are governed by other rules of international law.

(5) To avoid doubt, the fact that a person engages in any protest, advocacy or dissent, or engages in any strike, lockout or other industrial action, is not of itself a sufficient basis for inferring that the person is carrying out an act with the intention specified in paragraph (b) of the definition of “terrorist activity” in section 4 .

(6) Where a person is charged with an offence under subsection (1), which in the opinion of the Attorney General was committed in or outside the State with the intention of—

(a) unduly compelling the government of a state (other than a member state of the European Union) to perform or abstain from performing an act, or

(b) seriously destabilising or destroying the fundamental political, constitutional, economic or social structures of such a state,

then, notwithstanding anything in this Act, no further proceedings in the matter (other than any remand in custody or on bail) may be taken except with the consent of the Attorney General.

(7) Where in proceedings for the offence of engaging in or attempting to engage in a terrorist activity—

(a) it is proved that the accused person committed or attempted to commit an act—

(i) that constitutes an offence specified in Part 1 of Schedule 2, or

(ii) that, if committed in the State, would constitute an offence referred to in subparagraph (i),

and

(b) the court is satisfied, having regard to all the circumstances including those specified in subsection (8), that it is reasonable to assume that the act was committed, or the attempt was made, with the intention of—

(i) seriously intimidating a population,

(ii) unduly compelling a government or an international organisation to perform or abstain from performing an act, or

(iii) seriously destabilising or destroying the fundamental political, constitutional, economic or social structures of a state or an international organisation,

the accused person shall be presumed, unless the court is satisfied to the contrary, to have committed or attempted to commit the act with that intention.

(8) The circumstances referred to in subsection (7), include—

(a) whether the act or attempt referred to in subsection (7)(a)—

(i) created or was likely to create a collective danger to the lives or physical integrity of persons,

(ii) caused or was likely to cause serious damage to a state or international organisation, or

(iii) caused or was likely to result in major economic loss,

and

(b) any other matters that the court considers relevant.

(9) Where the Director of Public Prosecutions considers that another Member State of the European Communities has jurisdiction to try a person for any act constituting an offence under this section, the Director—

(a) shall co-operate with the appropriate authority in that other Member State, and

(b) may have recourse to any body or mechanism established within the European Communities in order to facilitate co-operation between judicial authorities,

with a view to centralising the prosecution of the person in a single Member State where possible.

7. —(1) A person guilty of an offence under section 6 (1)(a) is liable on conviction to be punished according to the gravity of the offence as follows:

(a) to the sentence of imprisonment fixed by law, if the corresponding offence specified in Schedule 2 is one for which the sentence is fixed by law;

(b) to imprisonment for life, if the corresponding offence specified in Schedule 2 is one for which the maximum sentence is imprisonment for life;

(c) to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 2 years more than the maximum term of imprisonment for the corresponding offence specified in Schedule 2, if that corresponding offence is one for which a person of full capacity and not previously convicted may be sentenced to a maximum term of 10 or more years of imprisonment;

(d) to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 1 year more than the maximum term of imprisonment for the corresponding offence specified in Schedule 2, if that corresponding offence is one for which a person of full capacity and not previously convicted may be sentenced to a maximum term of less than 10 years of imprisonment.

(2) A person guilty of an offence under section 6 (1)(b) is liable on conviction to the penalty to which he or she would have been liable had the act that constitutes the offence been done in the State.

(3) In this section, “corresponding offence”, in relation to a person convicted of an offence under section 6 (1)(a), means the offence for which the person would have been liable to be convicted had the act constituting the offence under that section been committed in the State in the absence of the intent referred to in paragraph (b) of the definition in section 4 of “terrorist activity”.