Attorney General's Scheme - 2005
Concerns have been expressed to the society鈥檚 Criminal Law Committee regarding procedural inconsistencies that are occurring in the way in which the court deals with applications for grant of the scheme in bail cases.
The rules of the scheme provide that the application for grant of the scheme should be made and decided at the outset of the bail hearing. However, it appears that a practice has grown up whereby the court will consider the application for grant of the scheme only after it has taken a view on the merits of the substantive application.
The committee would like to hear from practitioners who have been involved in such cases, particularly those where the application for grant of the scheme was subsequently refused.
Practitioners should send a brief outline of the circumstances of the case to Colette Carey, secretary, Criminal Law Committee, Law Society of Ireland, Blackhall Place, Dublin 7.