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50 2001

CRIMINAL JUSTICE (THEFT AND FRAUD OFFENCES) ACT, 2001

PART 8

Trial of Offences

Summary trial of indictable offences.

53. —(1) The District Court may try summarily a person charged with an indictable offence under this Act if—

(a) the Court is of opinion that the facts proved or alleged constitute a minor offence fit to be tried summarily,

(b) the accused, on being informed by the Court of his or her right to be tried with a jury, does not object to being tried summarily, and

(c) the Director of Public Prosecutions consents to the accused being tried summarily for the offence.

(2) On conviction by the District Court for an indictable offence tried summarily under subsection (1) the accused shall be liable to a fine not exceeding £1,500 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 12 months or both such fine and imprisonment.

Trial procedure.

54. —(1) In any proceedings for an offence or attempted offence under any of sections 6 and 7 and sections 9 to 11 it shall not be necessary to prove an intention dishonestly to cause a loss to, or make a gain at the expense of, a particular person, and it shall be sufficient to prove that the accused did the act charged dishonestly with the intention of causing such a loss or making such a gain.

(2) Any number of persons may be charged in one indictment, with reference to the same theft, with having at different times or at the same time handled or possessed all or any of the stolen property, and the persons so charged may be tried together.

(3) Any person who—

(a) is a member of a partnership or is one of two or more beneficial owners of any property, and

(b) steals any property of or belonging to the partnership or such beneficial owners,

is liable to be dealt with, tried and punished as if he or she had not been or was not a member of the partnership or one of such beneficial owners.

(4) If on the trial of a person for stealing any property it appears that the property alleged to have been stolen at one time was taken at different times, the separate takings may, unless the trial judge directs otherwise, be tried together, to a number not exceeding 3, provided that not more than 6 months elapsed between the first and the last of the takings.

(5) Charges of stealing, handling or possessing any property or any part thereof may be included in separate counts of the same indictment and such counts may be tried together.

(6) Any person or persons charged in separate counts of the same indictment with stealing any property or any part thereof may be severally found guilty of stealing, handling or possessing the property or any part thereof.

(7) On the trial of two or more persons indicted for jointly handling or possessing any stolen property the court or jury, as the case may be, may find any of the accused guilty if satisfied that he or she handled or possessed all or any part of such property, whether or not he or she did so jointly with the other accused or any of them.

Alternative verdicts.

55. —(1) If, on the trial of a person for theft or for unlawfully obtaining property otherwise, it is proved that the person handled or possessed the property in such circumstances as to constitute an offence under section 17 or 18, he or she may be convicted of that offence.

(2) If, on the trial of a person for an offence under section 17 or 18 of handling or possessing stolen or otherwise unlawfully obtained property, it is proved that the person stole or otherwise unlawfully obtained the property, he or she may be convicted of the theft of the property or of the offence consisting of unlawfully obtaining the property.

Orders for restitution.

56. —(1) Where property has been stolen and either—

(a) a person is convicted of an offence with reference to the theft (whether or not the stealing is the essential ingredient of the offence), or

(b) a person is convicted of any other offence but the first-mentioned offence is taken into consideration in determining his or her sentence,

the court by or before which the person is convicted may on the conviction (whether or not the passing of sentence is in other respects deferred)—

(i) order anyone having possession or control of the property to restore it to any person entitled to recover it from the convicted person,

(ii) on the application of a person entitled to recover from the convicted person any other property directly or indirectly representing the first-mentioned property (as being the proceeds of any disposal or realisation of the whole or part of it or of property so representing it), order that other property to be delivered or transferred to the applicant, or

(iii) order that a sum not exceeding the value of the first-mentioned property shall be paid, out of any money of the convicted person which was taken out of his or her possession when arrested, to any person who, if that property were in the possession of the convicted person, would be entitled to recover it from him or her.

(2) Where the court has power on a person's conviction to make an order against him or her under both paragraph (ii) and paragraph (iii) of subsection (1) with reference to the stealing of the same property, the court may make orders under both paragraphs, if the person in whose favour the orders are made does not thereby recover more than the value of that property.

(3) Where—

(a) the court makes an order under subsection (1)(i) for the restoration of any property, and

(b) it appears to the court that the convicted person has sold the property to a person acting in good faith or has borrowed money on the security of it from a person so acting,

then, on the application of the purchaser or lender the court may order that there shall be paid to the applicant, out of any money of the convicted person which was taken out of his or her possession when arrested, a sum not exceeding the amount paid for the purchase by the applicant or, as the case may be, the amount owed to the applicant in respect of the loan.

(4) (a) The court shall not exercise the powers conferred by this section unless in its opinion the relevant facts sufficiently appear from evidence given at the trial or the available documents, together with admissions made by or on behalf of any person in connection with any proposed exercise of the powers.

(b) In paragraph (a) “available documents” means—

(i) any written statements or admissions which were made for use, and would have been admissible in evidence, at the trial,

(ii) any depositions taken in any proceedings before the trial, and

(iii) any written statements or admissions used as evidence at the trial or in any such proceedings.

(5) The provisions of section 20 in relation to property which has been stolen shall have effect also in relation to the property referred to in this section.

(6) This section is without prejudice to the Police (Property) Act, 1897 (disposal of property in the possession of the Garda Síochána).

Provision of information to juries.

57. —(1) In a trial on indictment of an offence under this Act, the trial judge may order that copies of any or all of the following documents shall be given to the jury in any form that the judge considers appropriate:

(a) any document admitted in evidence at the trial,

(b) the transcript of the opening speeches of counsel,

(c) any charts, diagrams, graphics, schedules or agreed summaries of evidence produced at the trial,

(d) the transcript of the whole or any part of the evidence given at the trial,

(e) the transcript of the closing speeches of counsel,

(f) the transcript of the trial judge's charge to the jury,

(g) any other document that in the opinion of the trial judge would be of assistance to the jury in its deliberations including, where appropriate, an affidavit by an accountant summarising, in a form which is likely to be comprehended by the jury, any transactions by the accused or other persons which are relevant to the offence.

(2) If the prosecutor proposes to apply to the trial judge for an order that a document mentioned in subsection (1)(g) shall be given to the jury, the prosecutor shall give a copy of the document to the accused in advance of the trial and, on the hearing of the application, the trial judge shall take into account any representations made by or on behalf of the accused in relation to it.

(3) Where the trial judge has made an order that an affidavit mentioned in subsection (1)(g) shall be given to the jury, the accountant concerned—

(a) shall be summoned by the prosecutor to attend at the trial as an expert witness, and

(b) may be required by the trial judge, in an appropriate case, to give evidence in regard to any relevant accounting procedures or principles.