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26 2006

CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACT 2006

PART 8

Misuse of Drugs

Definition.

80 .— In this Part “ Act of 1977” means Misuse of Drugs Act 1977.

Amendment of section 15A of Act of 1977.

81 .— (1) Section 15A of the Act of 1977 is amended by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (3):

“(3A) In any proceedings for an offence under this section, it shall not be necessary for the prosecutor to prove that a person knew that at any time while the controlled drug or drugs concerned were in the person’s possession that the market value of that drug or the aggregate of the market values of those drugs, as the case may be, amounted to €13,000 or more or that he or she was reckless in that regard.”.

(2) This section shall not have effect in relation to proceedings for an offence under section 15A of the Act of 1977 instituted before the commencement of this section.

Importation of controlled drugs in excess of certain value.

82 .— The Act of 1977 is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 15A:

“Importation of controlled drugs in excess of certain value.

15B.— (1) A person shall be guilty of an offence where—

(a) the person imports one or more controlled drugs in contravention of regulations under section 5 of this Act, and

(b) at or about the time the drug or drugs are imported the market value of the controlled drug or the aggregate of the market values of the controlled drugs, as the case may be, amounts to €13,000 or more.

(2) If the court is satisfied that a member of the Garda Síochána or an officer of customs and excise has knowledge of the unlawful sale or supply of controlled drugs, that member or officer, as the case may be, shall be entitled in any proceedings for an offence under this section to be heard and to give evidence as to—

(a) the market value of the controlled drug concerned, or

(b) the aggregate of the market values of the controlled drugs concerned.

(3) In any proceedings for an offence under this section, it shall not be necessary for the prosecutor to prove that a person knew that at the time the person imported the controlled drug or drugs concerned that the market value of that drug or the aggregate of the market values of those drugs, as the case may be, amounted to €13,000 or more or that he or she was reckless in that regard.

(4) No proceedings may be instituted under this section except by or with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

(5) In this section ‘market value’ and ‘an officer of customs and excise’ have the meanings they have in section 15A of this Act.”.

Supply of controlled drugs into prisons and places of detention.

83 .— The Act of 1977 is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 15B (inserted by section 82 of this Act):

“Supply of controlled drugs into prisons and places of detention.

15C.— (1) A person shall be guilty of an offence where—

(a) the person, other than in accordance with regulations made under section 4 of this Act, conveys a controlled drug into a prison, children detention school or remand centre or to a person in the prison, school or centre,

(b) the person, other than in accordance with regulations made under section 4 of this Act, places a controlled drug in any place inside or outside a prison, children detention school or remand centre with intent that it shall come into the possession of a person in the prison, school or centre,

(c) the person throws or projects a controlled drug into a prison, children detention school or remand centre, or

(d) the person, while in the vicinity of a prison, children detention school or remand centre, has in his or her possession a controlled drug with intent to commit an act referred to in paragraph (a), (b) or (c) of this subsection.

(2) A person may be guilty of an offence under subsection (1) of this section irrespective of the quantity of the controlled drug concerned.

(3) Subject to section 29(3) of this Act, in any proceedings for an offence under subsection (1)(d) of this section, where—

(a) it is proved that a person was in possession of a controlled drug in the vicinity of a prison, children detention school or remand centre, as the case may be, and

(b) the court (or the jury, as the case may be), having regard to all the circumstances including the person’s proximity to the prison, school or centre, as the case may be, the packaging (if any) of the controlled drug and the time of the day or night concerned, is satisfied that it is reasonable to assume that the controlled drug was not intended for his or her immediate personal use,

he or she shall be presumed, until the court (or the jury, as the case may be) is satisfied to the contrary, to have been in possession of the controlled drug with intent to commit an act referred to in paragraph (a) or (b) or, as the case may be, (c) of subsection (1) of this section.

(4) In any proceedings for an offence under subsection (1) of this section, it shall not be necessary for the prosecutor to prove that the controlled drug concerned was intended to come into the possession of any particular person in the prison, children detention school or remand centre, as the case may be.

(5) If a prison officer or an authorised member of the staff of a children detention school or remand centre reasonably suspects that a person has committed or is committing an offence under this section, he or she may, for the purpose of detecting the commission of such an offence, search the person at any time while he or she is in the prison, school or centre, as the case may be.

(6) A prison officer or an authorised member of the staff of a children detention school or remand centre may, for the purpose of performing his or her functions under subsection (5) of this section, have a controlled drug in his or her possession.

(7) A person guilty of an offence under this section shall be liable—

(a) on summary conviction, to a fine not exceeding €3,000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or both, or

(b) on conviction on indictment, to a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years or both.

(8) In this section—

‘an authorised member of the staff’ —

(a) in relation to a children detention school, means a member of the staff of the school who is authorised in writing for the purposes of this section by the Director (within the meaning of section 157 of the Children Act 2001 ) of the school, and

(b) in relation to a remand centre, means a member of the staff of the centre who is authorised in writing for the purposes of this section by the owners or, as the case may be, the managers of the centre;

‘children detention school’ and ‘remand centre’ have the meanings they have in section 3(1) of the Children Act 2001 ;

‘prison’ means a place of custody administered by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform and includes Saint Patrick’s Institution and a place of detention provided under section 2 of the Prisons Act 1970 , and ‘prison officer’, in relation to a prison, shall be construed accordingly.”.

Amendment of section 27 of Act of 1977.

84 .— Section 27 of the Act of 1977 is amended—

(a) in subsection (3A)—

(i) by the substitution of “an offence under section 15A or 15B of this Act” for “an offence under section 15A”, and

(ii) by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (a):

“(a) to imprisonment for life or such shorter period as the court may determine, subject to subsections (3B) to (3CC) of this section or, where subsection (3CCCC) of this section applies, to that subsection, and”,

(b) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (3A):

“(3AA) The court, in imposing sentence on a person for an offence under section 15A or 15B of this Act, may, in particular, have regard to whether the person has a previous conviction for a drug trafficking offence.”,

(c) in subsection (3B), by the substitution of “an offence under section 15A or 15B of this Act” for “an offence under section 15A”,

(d) by the insertion of the following subsections after subsection (3C):

“(3CC) The court, in considering for the purposes of subsection (3C) of this section whether a sentence of not less than 10 years imprisonment is unjust in all the circumstances, may have regard, in particular, to—

(a) whether the person convicted of the offence concerned was previously convicted in respect of a drug trafficking offence, and

(b) whether the public interest in preventing drug trafficking would be served by the imposition of a lesser sentence.

(3CCC) Subsections (3B) to (3CC) of this section apply and have effect only in relation to a person convicted of a first offence under section 15A or 15B of this Act (other than a person who falls under paragraph (b) of subsection (3CCCC) of this section), and accordingly references in those first-mentioned subsections to an offence under section 15A or 15B of this Act are to be construed as references to a first such offence.

(3CCCC) Where a person (other than a child or young person)—

(a) is convicted of a second or subsequent offence under section 15A or 15B of this Act, or

(b) is convicted of a first offence under one of those sections and has been convicted under the other of those sections,

the court shall, in imposing sentence, specify as the minimum period of imprisonment to be served by that person a period of not less than 10 years.”,

(e) in subsection (3I), by the substitution of “an offence under section 15A or 15B of this Act” for “an offence under section 15A of this Act” and the substitution of “each of those offences” for “that offence”, and

(f) by the insertion of the following subsection after subsection (3J):

“(3K) In subsections (3AA) and (3CC) of this section ‘drug trafficking offence’ has the meaning it has in section 3 (1) of the Criminal Justice Act 1994 and in subsection (3CC) of this section ‘drug trafficking’ has the meaning it has in the said section 3(1).”.

Amendment of section 29 of Act of 1977.

85 .— Section 29 of the Act of 1977 is amended by the substitution of the following subsection for subsection (3):

“(3) In any proceedings for an offence under section 15 or 15A, or subsection (1)(d) of section 15C, of this Act, a defendant may rebut the presumption raised by subsection (2) of the said section 15 or 15A or subsection (3) of the said section 15C, as the case may be, by showing that at the time of the alleged offence, he or she was by virtue of regulations made under section 4 of this Act lawfully in possession of the controlled drug or drugs to which the proceedings relate.”.

Amendment of section 3(1) of Criminal Justice Act 1994.

86 .— Section 3(1) of the Criminal Justice Act 1994 is amended in the definition of “ drug trafficking offence” by the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph (bb):

“(bbb) an offence under section 15B (importation of controlled drugs in excess of certain value) of that Act,”.