TEN-YEAR MANDATORY DRUG TERM FROM TODAY

Possession for supply of drugs estimated by the courts to be worth
IEP10,000 or more will result in a mandatory 10-year jail sentence
from today, following the introduction of new laws.

The Minister for Justice's Act, first mooted while he was opposition
spokesman on justice over three years ago, passed into law yesterday
as the Criminal Justice Act, 1999.

Part II of the Act creates a new offence of possession of drugs with
intent to supply with a value of IEP10,000 or more, for which there
will be a mandatory 10-year sentence.

At present gardaED officially estimated the value of cannabis on a
basis of its "final" street value of IEP10 per gram, so possession of
a kilo or more of the drug could, from now, result in the mandatory
10-year sentence.

Along with the laws allowing the seizure of suspected criminal assets,
the State now has some of the toughest anti-crime and anti-drugs
legislation in the developed world.

In a statement yesterday, Mr O'Donoghue said: "It is important that
the message goes out widely that from today people who commit the
offence of possessing drugs with a value of IEP10,000 with intent to
supply will face minimum, mandatory 10-year prison sentences.

"That is the stark reality which drug-pushers now face and if they
take that risk they will have no one to blame but themselves.

"The Criminal Justice Act, 1999, is a flagship measure in my extensive
programme of criminal law reform.

"While there is no room for complacency, the Act is further evidence
of the Government's zero-tolerance approach to crime, an approach
which all the available evidence vindicates, not least the
unprecedented reductions which have been taking place in the crime
rate," he said.

The new Criminal Justice Act also includes provisions making it an
offence punishable by up to 10 years in prison to intimidate a witness.

This measure was announced by the Minister after it emerged the IRA
intimidated witnesses in the case in which five of its members faced
charges of murdering Det Garda Jerry McCabe.

After the witnesses withdrew from the case the murder charges were
dropped and defendants pleaded guilty to the lesser charge of
manslaughter.

Other provisions in the Criminal Justice Act will come into force as
quickly as possible and include automatic inquiries into the assets of
drug-traffickers.