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PART 2
Garda Síochána
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Chapter 1
General
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Continuation of Garda Síochána.
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6.
—(1) The police force called the Garda Síochána continues in being under this Act as a police service.
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(2) The Government may continue to maintain, equip and pay the Garda Síochána.
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Function of Garda Síochána.
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7.
—(1) The function of the Garda Síochána is to provide policing and security services for the State with the objective of—
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(a) preserving peace and public order,
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(b) protecting life and property,
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(c) vindicating the human rights of each individual,
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(d) protecting the security of the State,
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(e) preventing crime,
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(f) bringing criminals to justice, including by detecting and investigating crime, and
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(g) regulating and controlling road traffic and improving road safety.
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(2) For the purpose of achieving the objective referred to in subsection (1), the Garda Síochána shall co-operate, as appropriate, with other Departments of State, agencies and bodies having, by law, responsibility for any matter relating to any aspect of that objective.
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(3) In addition to its function under subsection (1), the Garda Síochána and its members have such functions as are conferred on them by law including those relating to immigration.
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(4) This section does not affect any powers, immunities, privileges or duties that members of the Garda Síochána have by virtue of any other enactment or at common law.
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(5) This section is not to be taken to confer on any person a right in law that he or she would not otherwise have to—
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(a) require the Garda Síochána to perform a function or provide a service referred to in this section or to desist from any action, or
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(b) seek damages for a member of the Garda Síochána's performance of, or failure to perform, such function or for his or her provision of, or failure to provide, such service.
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Prosecution of offences by members of Garda Síochána.
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8.
—(1) No member of the Garda Síochána in the course of his or her official duties may institute a prosecution except as provided under this section.
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(2) Subject to subsection (3), any member of the Garda Síochána may institute and conduct prosecutions in a court of summary jurisdiction, but only in the name of the Director of Public Prosecutions.
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(3) In deciding whether to institute and in instituting or conducting a prosecution, a member of the Garda Síochána shall comply with any applicable direction (whether of a general or specific nature) given by the Director of Public Prosecutions under subsection (4).
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(4) The Director of Public Prosecutions may give, vary or rescind directions concerning the institution and conduct of prosecutions by members of the Garda Síochána.
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(5) Directions under subsection (4) may be of a general or specific nature and may, among other things, prohibit members of the Garda Síochána from—
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(a) instituting or conducting prosecutions of specified types of offences or in specified circumstances, or
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(b) conducting prosecutions beyond a specified stage of the proceedings.
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(6) If a prosecution is instituted or conducted by a member of the Garda Síochána in the name of the Director of Public Prosecutions—
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(a) the member is presumed, unless the contrary is proved, to have complied with this section and any applicable direction given by the Director under this section, and
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(b) nothing done by the member in instituting or conducting the prosecution is invalid by reason only of the member's failure to comply with this section or that direction.
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(7) Nothing in this section—
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(a) precludes the Director of Public Prosecutions from, at any stage of the proceedings, assuming the conduct of a prosecution instituted by a member of the Garda Síochána, or
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(b) authorises a member of the Garda Síochána to institute a proceeding without the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions if an enactment prohibits the institution of that proceeding except by or with the Director's consent.
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(8) For the purpose of this section—
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(a) a direction is of a general nature if it relates to a class of prosecutions, and
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(b) a direction is of a specific nature if it relates to the prosecution of a person for a specific offence.
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