Criticism
The Special Criminal Court has been criticized by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, Amnesty International and the United Nations Commission on Human Rights, for its procedures and for being a special court, which ordinarily should not be used against civilians. Among the criticisms are the lack of a jury, and the increasing use of the court to try organized "ordinary" crimes rather than the terrorist cases it was originally set up to handle. Critics also argue that the court is now obsolete since there is no longer a serious terrorist threat to the State (see: Northern Ireland peace process). Under the law, the court is authorized to accept the opinion of a Garda Síochána chief-superintendent as evidence that a suspect is a member of an illegal organization. (However, the court has been reluctant to convict on the word of a garda alone, without any corroborating evidence.)
The Sinn Féin political party have also been critical of the Special Criminal Court, although it never saw the same level of miscarriages of justice that occurred in England in the 1970s. Some prominent Sinn Féin members (including Martin Ferris and Martin McGuinness) have been convicted of offences by it.
Read more about this topic: Special Criminal Court
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