Criminal Justice Act, 1990
Acts of the Oireachtas
Source: Acts of the Oireachtas

num: 1
paragraphs: —No person shall suffer death for any offence.
num: 2
paragraphs: —A person convicted of treason or murder shall be sentenced to imprisonment for life.
num: 3
paragraphs: —(1) This section applies to—
(a) murder of a member of the Garda SÃ­ochÃ¡na acting in the course of his duty,
(b) murder of a prison officer acting in the course of his duty,
(c) murder done in the course or furtherance of an offence under section 6 , 7 , 8 or 9 of the Offences against the State Act, 1939 , or in the course or furtherance of the activities of an unlawful organisation within the meaning of section 18 (other than paragraph (f)) of that Act, and
(d) murder, committed within the State for a political motive, of the head of a foreign State or of a member of the government of, or a diplomatic officer of, a foreign State,
and to an attempt to commit any such murder.
(2) (a) Subject to paragraph (b), murder to which this section applies, and an attempt to commit such a murder, shall be a distinct offence from murder and from an attempt to commit murder and a person shall not be convicted of murder to which this section applies or of an attempt to commit such a murder unless it is proved that he knew of the existence of each ingredient of the offence specified in the relevant paragraph of subsection (1) or was reckless as to whether or not that ingredient existed.
(b) Save as otherwise provided by this Act, the law and procedure relating to murder and an attempt to commit murder shall apply to the offence.
(3) In this section—
“diplomatic officer” means a member of the staff of a diplomatic mission of a foreign State having diplomatic rank;
“prison” means any place for which rules or regulations may be made under the Prisons Acts, 1826 to 1980, section 7 of the Offences against the State (Amendment) Act, 1940 , section 233 of the Defence Act, 1954 , section 2 of the Prisoners of War and Enemy Aliens Act, 1956 , or section 13 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1960 ;
“prison officer” includes any member of the staff of a prison and any person having the custody of, or having duties in relation to the custody of, a person detained in a prison.
num: 4
paragraphs: —Where a person (other than a child or young person) is convicted of treason or of a murder or attempt to commit a murder to which section 3 applies, the court—
(a) in the case of treason or murder, shall in passing sentence specify as the minimum period of imprisonment to be served by that person a period of not less than forty years,
(b) in the case of an attempt to commit murder, shall pass a sentence of imprisonment of not less than twenty years and specify a period of not less than twenty years as the minimum period of imprisonment to be served by that person.
num: 5
paragraphs: —(1) The power conferred by section 23 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1951 , to commute or remit a punishment shall not, in the case of a person serving a sentence passed on him on conviction of treason or of murder to which section 3 applies or an attempt to commit such a murder, be exercisable before the expiration of the minimum period specified by the court under section 4 less any reduction of that period under subsection (2) of this section.
(2) The rules or practice whereby prisoners generally may earn remission of sentence by industry and good conduct shall apply in the case of a person serving a sentence passed on him on conviction of treason or of murder to which section 3 applies or an attempt to commit such a murder as if he had been sentenced to a term of imprisonment equal to the minimum period specified by the court under section 4 , and that period shall be reduced by the amount of any remission which he has so earned.
(3) Any power conferred by rules made under section 2 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1960 (including that section as applied by section 4 of the Prisons Act, 1970 ), to release temporarily a person serving a sentence of imprisonment shall not, in the case of a person serving a sentence passed on him on conviction of treason or of murder to which section 3 applies or an attempt to commit such a murder, be exercisable during the period for which the commutation or remission of his punishment is prohibited by subsection (1) of this section unless for grave reasons of a humanitarian nature, and any release so granted shall be only of such limited duration as is justified by those reasons.
num: 6
paragraphs: —(1) Where a person is accused of murder to which section 3 applies or of any attempt to commit such a murder, he shall be charged in the indictment with murder to which that section applies or, as the case may be, with an attempt to commit such a murder.
(2) A person indicted for murder to which section 3 applies may—
(a) if the evidence does not warrant a conviction for such murder but warrants a conviction for murder, be found guilty of murder,
(b) if the evidence does not warrant a conviction for murder but warrants a conviction for manslaughter, be found guilty of manslaughter.
(3) A person indicted for an attempt to commit a murder to which section 3 applies may, if the evidence does not warrant a conviction for such an attempt but warrants a conviction for an attempt to commit murder, be found guilty of an attempt to commit murder.
num: 7
paragraphs: —The enactments mentioned in the First Schedule are hereby amended in the manner specified therein.
num: 8
paragraphs: —(1) An offence of treason, capital murder or attempt to commit a capital murder, being an offence committed wholly or partly before the passing of this Act, shall be dealt with under the law in force before such passing, except that—
(a) if the offender is convicted of treason or capital murder, he shall be sentenced as provided for by this Act as if, in the case of capital murder, the murder were murder to which section 3 applies, and
(b) if he is convicted of attempted capital murder, he shall be sentenced as if he had been convicted of attempted murder.
(2) If, on an appeal against a conviction before the passing of this Act, of treason or capital murder the conviction is confirmed, the appeal court shall impose sentence as provided for by this Act as if, in the case of capital murder, the murder were murder to which section 3 applies.
num: 9
paragraphs: —(1) The enactments mentioned in the Second Schedule are hereby repealed to the extent specified therein.
(2) The repeal by this Act of section 1 of the Offences against the Person Act, 1861 , shall not affect the operation of sections 64 to 68 of that Act.
num: 10
paragraphs: —This Act may be cited as the Criminal Justice Act, 1990.