Article 7

1) Any person who aids, abets, counsels or procures the commission of an indictable offence shall be liable to be indicted, tried and punished as a principal offender.

F2[(1A) Any person who, outside the State, aids, abets, counsels or procures the commission of an indictable offence in the State shall be liable to be indicted, tried and punished as a principal offender if—

(a) the person does so on board an Irish ship,

(b) the person does so on an aircraft registered in the State,

(c) the person is an Irish citizen, or

(d) the person is ordinarily resident in the State.

(2) Where a person has committed an arrestable offence, any other person who, knowing or believing him or her to be guilty of the offence or of some other arrestable offence, does without reasonable excuse any act F2[, whether in or outside the State,] with intent to impede his or her apprehension or prosecution shall be guilty of an offence.

F2[(2A) A person shall be guilty of an offence under subsection (2) for doing an act outside the State only if—

(a) the person does so on board an Irish ship,

(b) the person does so on an aircraft registered in the State,

(c) the person is an Irish citizen, or

(d) the person is ordinarily resident in the State.]

(3) If, upon the trial on indictment of an arrestable offence, it is proved that the offence charged, or some other offence of which the accused might on that charge be found guilty, was committed but it is not proved that the accused was guilty of it, the accused may be found guilty of an offence under subsection (2) of which it is proved that he or she is guilty in relation to the offence charged, or that other offence.

(4) A person committing an offence under subsection (2) with intent to impede another person's apprehension or prosecution shall be liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment according to the gravity of the offence that the other person has committed or attempted to commit, as follows:

(a) if that offence is one for which the sentence is fixed by law, or for which the maximum sentence is imprisonment for life, he or she shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding ten years;

(b) if it is one for which a person of full capacity and not previously convicted may be sentenced to imprisonment for a term of fourteen years, he or she shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding seven years;

(c) if it is not one included in paragraph (a) or (b) but is one for which a person of full capacity and not previously convicted may be sentenced to imprison- ment for a term of ten years, he or she shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding five years;

(d) in any other case, he or she shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years.

(5) Where a person is charged with an offence under subsection (2), no further proceedings in the matter (other than any remand in custody or on bail) shall be taken except by or with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

(6) The references in the following provisions, namely subsection (1) of section 13 (which relates to a plea of guilty in the District Court of an indictable offence) and subsection (1) (f) of section 29 (which relates to bail in the case of certain offences) of the Criminal Procedure Act, 1967, to an accessory before or after the fact shall be construed as references to aiding, abetting, counselling or procuring the commission of an offence, and to an offence under subsection (2).

(7) The First Schedule to the Criminal Justice Act, 1951 (which specifies the indictable offences which may be tried summarily with the consent of the accused) is hereby amended by the insertion of the following reference:
“24. An offence under section 7 (2) of the Criminal Law Act, 1997.”.

F2[(8) A person who has his or her principal residence in the State for the 12 months immediately preceding the commission of an offence referred to in subsection (1A) or an offence under subsection (2) is, for the purposes of subsection (1A)(d) or (in the case of an offence under subsection (2)) subsection (2A)(d), taken to be ordinarily resident in the State on the date of the commission of the offence.

(9) In this section ‘Irish ship’ has the meaning it has in section 9 of the Mercantile Marine Act 1955.]

Article 8

(1) Where a person has committed an arrestable offence, any other person who, knowing or believing that the offence or some other arrestable offence has been committed and that he or she has information which might be of material assistance in securing the prosecution or conviction of an offender for it, F4[accepts (or agrees to accept), whether in or outside the State, for not disclosing that information any consideration] other than the making good of loss or injury caused by the offence,
or the making of reasonable compensation for that loss or injury, shall be guilty of an offence and shall be liable on conviction on indictment to imprisonment for a term not exceeding three years.

F5[(1A) A person shall be guilty of an offence under subsection (1) for conduct that the person engages in outside the State only if—

(a) the conduct takes place on board an Irish ship,
(b) the conduct takes place on an aircraft registered in the State,
(c) the person is an Irish citizen, or
(d) the person is ordinarily resident in the State.]
(2) No proceedings shall be instituted for an offence under this section except by or with the consent of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

(3) The compounding of an offence shall not be an offence otherwise than under this section.

(4) The First Schedule to the Criminal Justice Act, 1951 (which specifies the indictable offences which may be tried summarily with the consent of the accused) is hereby amended by the insertion of the following reference:
“25. An offence under section 8 of the Criminal Law Act, 1997.”.

F6[(5) A person who has his or her principal residence in the State for the 12 months immediately preceding the commission of an offence under subsection (1) is, for the purposes of subsection (1A)(d), ordinarily resident in the State on the date of the commission of the offence.

(6) In this section ‘Irish ship’ has the same meaning as it has in section 7.]

Schedule - Relevant Offences

Common Law Offences

Accomplices

25. References in this Schedule to an offence include references to participation as an accomplice of a person who commits the offence.

Amendment of section 3 of Principal Act

3.—Section 3 (which relates to grave breaches of the Scheduled Conventions) of the Principal Act is hereby amended by the substitution for subsection (1) (as amended by section 10 of the Criminal
Justice Act, 1964), of the following subsections :

“(1) Any person, whatever his or her nationality, who, whether in or outside the State, commits or aids, abets or procures the commission by any other person of a grave breach of any of the Scheduled Conventions or Protocol I shall be guilty of an offence and on conviction on indictment —

(a) in the case of a grave breach involving the wilful killing of a person protected by the Convention or Protocol in question, shall be liable to imprisonment for life or any less term,
(b) in the case of any other grave breach, shall be liable to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 14 years.

3. Grave breaches of Scheduled Conventions.

(1) Any person, whatever his nationality, who, whether in or outside the State, commits, or aids, abets or procures the commission by any other person of, any such grave breach of any of the Scheduled Conventions as is referred to in the following Articles respectively of those Conventions, that is to say :

(a) Article 50 of the Convention set out in the First Schedule to this Act ;
(b) Article 51 of the Convention set out in the Second Schedule to this Act ;
(c) Article 130 of the Convention set out in the Third Schedule to this Act ; or
(d) Article 147 of the Convention set out in the Fourth Schedule to this Act ;

shall be guilty of an offence and on conviction on indictment thereof :
(i) in the case of such a grave breach as aforesaid involving the wilful killing of a person protected by the Convention in question, shall be sentenced to death or to penal servitude for life or any less term ;
(ii) in the case of any other such grave breach as aforesaid, shall be liable to penal servitude for fourteen years or any less term or imprisonment for a term not exceeding two years.