PART 1
PRELIMINARY AND GENERAL
Transmission of evidence to
designated state (general).

7. — (1) Evidence obtained in the State in compliance with a request shall be trans- mitted to the designated state concerned in accordance with the directions of the Minister.

(2) If any such evidence is to be accompanied by a certificate, affidavit or other verifying document, the judge concerned or, as the case may be, the appropriate member of the Garda Síochána or officer of the Revenue Commissioners, shall supply the required document for transmission to the designated state.

(3) Where the evidence consists of a document, the original or a copy shall be transmitted and, where it consists of any other item, the item itself or a description, photograph or other representation of it shall be transmitted, as may be necessary to comply with the request.

PART 5
PROVISION OF EVIDENCE
Chapter 2
Taking of Evidence
Evidence from
person in desig- nated state.

62. — (1) Where it appears to a judge at a sitting of any court that criminal proceedings have been instituted or a criminal investigation is taking place in the State, the judge may issue a letter (a “letter of request”) requesting assistance in obtaining from a person in a designated state such evidence as is specified in the letter for use in the proceedings or investigation.

(2) Application for a letter of request may be made by the Director of Public Prose- cutions or a person charged in any such proceedings that have been instituted.

(3) The letter of request shall be sent to the Central Authority for transmission to the appropriate authority.

(4) Notwithstanding subsections (1) to (3), where proceedings in respect of an offence have been instituted or a criminal investigation is taking place, the Director of Public Prosecutions may issue and transmit a letter of request directly to the appropriate authority.
(5) The letter of request shall include—
(a) a statement that the evidence is required for the purpose of criminal proceedings or a criminal investigation,
(b) a brief description of the conduct constituting the offence concerned, and
(c) any other available information that may assist the appropriate authority in complying with the request.

(6) Evidence obtained by virtue of this section shall not, without the consent of the appropriate authority, be used for any purpose other than that permitted by the relevant international instrument or specified in the letter of request.

(7) When any such evidence is no longer required for that purpose (or for any other purpose for which such consent has been obtained), it shall be returned to the appropriate authority unless the authority indicates that it need not be returned.
(8) A statement of the evidence of a witness—
(a) taken in accordance with a letter of request, and
(b) certified by or on behalf of the court, tribunal or authority by which it was taken to be an accurate statement of the evidence,

is admissible, without further proof, in proceedings relating to the offence concerned as evidence of any fact stated therein of which oral evidence would be so admissible.

(9) A court, when considering whether any evidence taken from a person pursuant to a letter of request should be excluded in the exercise of its discretion to exclude evidence otherwise admissible, shall, where appropriate, have regard to—

(a) whether the law of the state concerned allowed the person and any other party concerned, when the evidence was being taken, to be legally represent- ed and cross-examined, and

(b) any other respects in which the taking of the evidence may have differed from the taking of comparable evidence in the State.



(10) Nothing in this section prevents the Director of Public Prosecutions from issuing a letter of request for assistance in obtaining a statement of evidence or taking possession of material evidence in a designated state for the purposes of criminal proceedings or a criminal investigation where the witness or witnesses concerned will give evidence in those proceedings or any proceedings that may be instituted after the investigation.

(11) In this section, “appropriate authority”, in relation to the place where the evidence is to be obtained, means—

(a) a court or tribunal specified in the letter of request and exercising jurisdiction in that place, or

(b) any other authority recognised by the government of the state concerned as the appropriate authority for receiving the letter.


Evidence for use in designated state.

63. — (1) This section applies, subject to section 64, in relation to a request for assistance in obtaining evidence in the State from a person (in this section referred to as a “witness”) for the purpose of criminal proceedings, or a criminal investigation, in a designated state.

(2) On receipt of such a request the Minister, if of opinion that this section applies in relation to it, may, subject to subsection (3)—

(a) request the President of the District Court to nominate a judge of that Court to receive the evidence to which the request relates, and

(b) send the judge a copy of the request and of any accompanying or related documents.

(3) The Minister shall not exercise the power conferred by subsection (2) unless an assurance is given by the requesting authority that any evidence that may be supplied in response to the request will not, without the consent of the nominated judge or the witness, be used for any purpose other than that permitted by the relevant international instrument or specified in the letter of request.
(4) For the purposes of this section the nominated judge—
(a) has the powers of the District Court in criminal proceedings, including its powers—

(i) in relation to securing the attendance of witnesses, the production of documents or other articles, taking evidence on oath, compelling witnesses to give evidence or to produce documents or other things and the conduct generally of the proceedings for the taking of evidence, and

(ii) under any enactment or rule of law relating to the protection of witnesses against intimidation,

(b) may direct that the evidence, or any part of it, be received otherwise than in public if of opinion that such a direction is necessary to protect—
(i) the witness or other person, or
(ii) confidential or sensitive information, and
(c) shall inform the witness of his or her rights under section 64.
(5) The evidence may be given through a live television link in any case where it may be so given in proceedings under any enactment.

(6) Any person who is summoned to give evidence and who, without reasonable excuse, does not answer any question or comply with a requirement to produce any document or other thing is guilty of an offence and liable, on summary conviction, to



a fine not exceeding €2,500 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding 6 months or both.

(7) The Bankers’ Books Evidence Act 1879 applies to proceedings under this section as it applies to other proceedings before a court.
(8) No order for costs may be made in the proceedings.


Privilege of witnesses.































Transfer of prison- er to give
evidence or assist criminal investiga- tion in State.

64. — (1) A person is not compelled to give any evidence in proceedings under section 63 which he or she could not be compelled to give—
(a) in criminal proceedings in the State, or
(b) subject to subsection (2), in criminal proceedings in the state concerned.
(2) Subsection (1)(b) does not apply unless the claim of the person to be exempt from giving the evidence is conceded by the requesting authority.

(3) Where the claim is not conceded, the person may (subject to the other provisions of this section) be required to give the evidence to which the claim relates, but the evidence shall not be transmitted to the requesting authority if a court in the state concerned, on the matter being referred to it, upholds the claim.

(4) Without prejudice to subsection (1), a person may not be compelled under this section to give any evidence—
(a) in his or her capacity as an officer or servant of the State, or
(b) if to do so would be prejudicial to the security of the State.
(5) In any proceedings referred to in subsection (1) a certificate purporting to be signed by or on behalf of the Minister to the effect that it would be prejudicial to the security of the State for a person to give any evidence is admissible, without further proof, as evidence of that fact.

(6) In this section references to giving evidence include references to answering any question and to producing any document or other thing, and the reference in subsection (3) to the transmission of evidence given by a person is to be construed accordingly.

PART 5
PROVISION OF EVIDENCE
Chapter 3
Identification evidence

Identification
evidence for use in State.

77. — (1) Where it appears to a judge of any court that—
(a) criminal proceedings have been instituted or a criminal investigation is taking place, and



(b) identification evidence for the purposes of the proceedings or investigation may be obtained from an authority in a designated state,

the judge may issue a letter (a “letter of request”) requesting assistance in obtaining the evidence.

(2) Application for a letter of request may be made by the Director of Public Prose- cutions or a person charged in any proceedings that have been instituted.
(3) The letter of request shall be sent to—
(a) the Central Authority for transmission to the appropriate authority, or
(b) in urgent cases, directly to that authority.
(4) Notwithstanding subsections (1) to (3), where proceedings for an offence have been instituted or an offence is being investigated, the Director of Public Prosecutions may issue and transmit a letter of request directly to the appropriate authority.
(5) The letter of request shall include—
(a) a statement that the evidence is required for the purpose of criminal proceedings or a criminal investigation and will be returned to the appropriate authority when no longer required for that purpose, unless the authority indicates otherwise
(b) a brief description of the conduct constituting the offence concerned, F62[...]
F63[(ba) in the case of a request pursuant to Article 7 of the 2008 Council Decision, or that Article insofar as it is applied by Article 1 of the 2009 Agreement with Iceland and Norway, for the DNA profile of a person who is suspected of having committed the offence concerned whose DNA profile is not in the possession of the appropriate authority, a statement issued by the Commis- sioner of the Garda Síochána or the Director of Public Prosecutions, as may be appropriate, confirming that the requirements for the taking of a DNA sample from the person under the law of the State would be complied with if the person were in the State, and]

(c) any other available information that may assist the appropriate authority in complying with the request.

(6) Evidence obtained by virtue of this section shall not, without the consent of the appropriate authority, be used for any purpose other than that specified in the letter of request.

(7) When any such evidence is no longer required for that purpose (or for any other purpose for which such consent has been obtained), it shall be returned to the appropriate authority unless the authority indicates that it need not be returned.
(8) In any proceedings a document purporting to be—
(a) a report of the taking of the identification evidence in the designated state and to be signed by, and to state the rank or other qualification of, the person who took the evidence, or

(b) a record of the evidence kept by the appropriate authority and certified by it or on its behalf,
is admissible, without further proof, as evidence of the matters stated in it.
(9) In this section, “appropriate authority” means the authority in the designated state concerned appearing to the Director of Public Prosecutions to possess the identification evidence requested or to have the function of obtaining or arranging to obtain it.