IE-2015-act-17 — Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) (Amendment) Act 2015

Definition 1. In this Act “Principal Act” means the Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Act 2005 . Regulations 2. The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 3: “ 3A. (1) The Minister may by regulations provide for any matter referred to in this Act as prescribed or to be prescribed. (2) Regulations under this Act may contain such incidental, supplementary and consequential provisions as appear to the Minister to be necessary or expedient for the purposes of the regulations. (3) Every regulation under this Act shall be laid before each House of the Oireachtas as soon as may be after it is made and, if a resolution annulling the regulation is passed by either such House within the next 21 days on which that House has sat after the regulation is laid before it, the regulation shall be annulled accordingly, but without prejudice to the validity of anything previously done thereunder.”. Amendment of section 4 of Principal Act 3. Section 4 of the Principal Act is amended by— (a) the substitution of the following definition for the definition of “Framework Decision”: “‘Framework Decision’ means Council Framework Decision 2002/475/JHA of 13 June 2002 on combating terrorism 2 , 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, as amended by Council Framework Decision 2008/919/JHA of 28 November 2008 amending Framework Decision 2002/475/JHA on combating terrorism 3 , the English language text of which is set out for convenience of reference in Schedule 1A;”, (b) the substitution of the following definition for the definition of “terrorist-linked activity”: “ ‘terrorist-linked activity’, subject to subsections (2) and (3), means— (a) an act 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, (b) an act 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, (c) public provocation to commit a terrorist offence, (d) recruitment for terrorism, or (e) training for terrorism;”, (c) the insertion of the following definitions: “ ‘Prevention of Terrorism Convention’ means the Council of Europe Convention on the Prevention of Terrorism, done at Warsaw on 16 May 2005, the English language text of which is set out for convenience of reference in Schedule 1B; ‘public provocation to commit a terrorist offence’ shall be construed in accordance with section 4A; ‘recruitment for terrorism’ shall be construed in accordance with section 4B; ‘training for terrorism’ shall be construed in accordance with section 4C.”, (d) the designation of that section (as amended by paragraphs (a) , (b) and (c) ) as subsection (1), and (e) the addition of the following subsections: “(2) A terrorist-linked activity may be committed wholly or partially by electronic means. (3) In determining whether an act is a terrorist-linked activity, it shall not be necessary for an offence under section 6(1)(a) insofar as that provision relates to a terrorist activity, to have actually been committed.”. Public provocation to commit terrorist offence 4. The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 4: “ 4A. For the purposes of this Part, public provocation to commit a terrorist offence means the intentional distribution, or otherwise making available, by whatever means of communication by a person of a message to the public, with the intent of encouraging, directly or indirectly, the commission by a person of a terrorist activity.”. Recruitment for terrorism 5. The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 4A (inserted by section 4 ): “ 4B. For the purposes of this Part, recruitment for terrorism means— (a) the intentional recruitment of another person— (i) to commit, or participate in the commission of, a terrorist activity, (ii) to commit an act in or outside the State that, if committed in the State, would constitute an offence under section 6 of the Act of 1998, or (iii) to commit an act in or outside the State that, if committed in the State, would constitute an offence under section 21 or 21A of the Act of 1939, or (b) the intentional commission of an act in or outside the State that, if committed in the State, would constitute an offence under section 3 of the Criminal Law Act 1976 .”. Training for terrorism 6. The Principal Act is amended by the insertion of the following section after section 4B (inserted by section 5 ): “ 4C. (1) For the purposes of this Part, training for terrorism means intentionally providing instruction or training in the skills of— (a) making or using, for the purpose of committing, or contributing to the commission of, a terrorist activity— (i) firearms or explosives, (ii) nuclear material, (iii) biological weapons, chemical weapons or prohibited weapons, or (iv) such other weapons, or noxious or hazardous substances, that may be used in a terrorist activity as the Minister may prescribe, or (b) such other techniques or methods for the purpose of committing, or contributing to the commission of, a terrorist activity as the Minister may prescribe, knowing that the skills provided are intended to be used by a person receiving the instruction or training for the purpose of committing, or contributing to the commission of, a terrorist activity. (2) The Minister may, if he or she considers it appropriate to do so, make regulations for the purposes of subsection (1) and he or she shall— (a) before making such regulations, consult with the Commissioner of the Garda Síochána, the Minister for Defence and such other Minister of the Government as the Minister considers appropriate having regard to the weapons, substances, techniques or methods concerned, and (b) in making such regulations, have regard to the following: (i) the capability of the weapon, substance, technique or method concerned to cause the death of or serious bodily injury to persons or substantial material damage to property; (ii) the capacity of the weapon, substance, technique or method concerned to be used for the purposes of a terrorist activity and the likelihood of it being so used; (iii) the extent to which instruction or training— (I) in the making or use of the weapon or substance concerned, or (II) in the use of the technique or method concerned, is required for the making or use, as the case may be, of that weapon, substance, technique or method for the purpose of committing, or contributing to the commission of, a terrorist activity. (3) In this section— ‘biological weapon’ and ‘prohibited weapon’ have the same meanings as in the Biological Weapons Act 2011 ; ‘chemical weapons’ has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Chemical Weapons Act 1997 ; ‘explosive’ means an explosive within the meaning of the Explosives Act 1875 and any other substance or thing that is an explosive substance within the meaning of the Explosive Substances Act 1883 ; ‘firearm’ has the same meaning as in section 1 of the Firearms Act 1925 ; ‘nuclear material’ has the same meaning as in section 2 of the Radiological Protection Act 1991 .”. Amendment of section 6(1)(a)(ii) of Principal Act 7. Section 6(1)(a)(ii) of the Principal Act is amended by the insertion of “other than public provocation to commit a terrorist offence,” after “a terrorist-linked activity,”. Amendment of section 7(1) of Principal Act 8. Section 7(1) of the Principal Act is amended— (a) in paragraph (d), by the substitution of “a maximum term of less than 10 years of imprisonment,” for “a maximum term of less than 10 years of imprisonment.”, and (b) by the addition of the following paragraph: “(e) in the case of an offence that is a terrorist-linked activity referred to— (i) in paragraph (c) of the definition in section 4 of ‘terrorist-linked activity’— (I) on summary conviction, to a class A fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or both, or (II) on conviction on indictment, to a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years or both, (ii) in paragraph (d) of that definition, on conviction on indictment to a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years or both, and (iii) in paragraph (e) of that definition, on conviction on indictment to a fine or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years or both.”. Amendment of section 44(2) of Principal Act 9. Section 44(2) of the Principal Act is amended by the substitution of the following paragraph for paragraph (a): “(a) in relation to an act committed outside the State— (i) a certificate that is signed by an officer of the Minister for Foreign Affairs and Trade and states that a passport was issued by that Minister of the Government to a person on a specified date, and (ii) a certificate that is signed by an officer of the Minister and states that, to the best of the officer’s knowledge and belief, the person has not ceased to be an Irish citizen, is evidence that the person was an Irish citizen on the date on which the offence concerned is alleged to have been committed, unless the contrary is shown,”. Insertion of Schedules to Principal Act 10. The Principal Act is amended by the insertion— (a) after Schedule 1, of Schedule 1A as set out in Schedule 1 to this Act, and (b) after Schedule 1A (inserted by paragraph (a) ), of Schedule 1B as set out in Schedule 2 to this Act. Amendment of Part 1 of Schedule 2 to Principal Act 11. Part 1 of Schedule 2 to the Principal Act is amended— (a) by the insertion of the following paragraph after paragraph 7: “ Offences relating to maritime navigation and fixed platforms located on the continental shelf 7A. Any offence under section 2 of the Maritime Security Act 2004 .”, (b) in paragraph 10, by the addition of the following subparagraph: “(f) section 2 of the Biological Weapons Act 2011 (development, etc. of biological weapons).”, and (c) in paragraph 11— (i) in subparagraph (c), by the substitution of “(offences against internationally protected persons);” for “(offences against internationally protected persons).”, and (ii) by the addition of the following subparagraph: “(d) section 13 (offence of financing terrorism).”. Short title, collective citation and commencement 12. (1) This Act may be cited as the Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) (Amendment) Act 2015. (2) The Principal Act and this Act may be cited together as the Criminal Justice (Terrorist Offences) Acts 2005 and 2015. (3) This Act shall come into operation one week after the day of its passing.