Call McGarr Solicitors on: 01 6351580

Home » Blog » Criminal Law

The Garda Síochána Guide

The latest edition of the Garda Guide has been published. The Guide is a compendium of the Criminal law of Ireland.

It is an invaluable book. Alas, it is no longer a book; it consists of two heavy volumes of loose leaf pages, capable of being updated. It is also available on CD.

I was unable to answer the following question by referring to the Guide; what offence, if any, would be committed by the Dog Poop Girl if she were to visit Dublin’s Luas or Dart?

Is this a fair test of the Guide? I don’t think so.

I should be satisfied to discover that if she were to sing a profane, indecent or obscene song or ballad to the annoyance of the passengers, she would commit an offence under Section 14 (12) of the Dublin Police Act 1842 (5 and 6 Vic. C. 24).

According to the Guide, she could be arrested, without warrant, by any Garda, conditional on her committing the offence in view of the Garda.

It would be a feckless offender indeed who would persist in singing despite seeing the Garda (a Garda is in the view of an offender, if the offender is in the view of the Garda?).

The Guide is the kind of production that can be judged only with considerable use and time. It will get the benefit of both; all previous editions have been best-sellers and the time lag between editions has been always too long.

7 Comments

  1. I am very interested to see that such a compendium exists. Can you tell me where it can be found? Is it downloadable, or do I need to go to the Govt. Publications offce?

  2. The Guide is available from Government publications at 01-6793515

  3. Gerard O’Connor at Blackhall PublishingPosted Monday, July 14, 2008 at 10:22 am

    Perhaps the answer to the Dog Poop Girl question might be found at s22 of the Litter Pollution Act 1997 at E137 of the Garda Guide.
    The Guide is also available from Blackhall Publishing at 01-2785090.

  4. The Stationary Office aka Government Publications do not have a website. They seem to be linked to the OPW in some fashion, but the best you’ll find there is a 2003 publications catalogue as a PDF.

    Fortunately the private sector has the answer

    http://www.blackhallpublishing.com/products/index.php?productID=346

    It seems the paper version is EUR520
    and the CD is EUR 605 !!!

    For that price I could pay half of my car insurance

  5. 1.5 years later, and the price is still a kings ransom, I’d pay EUR 80 for a legit PDF if that was available.

  6. The Garda Siochana guide :
    Volume II. Can be viewed in the National Library Of Ireland, in the main reading room.

  7. How come that is not made free for the public?
    i would like to have a copy of it but can not afford the 520e .

One Trackback

  1. By McGarr Solicitors » The Garda Síochána Guide (2) on Monday, July 14, 2008 at 10:03 am

    […] well-wisher has directed me to page E-137 of the Garda Síochána Guide, in answer to the query (implied) as to the offence of the Dog Poop Girl, (if any), if she were to feature on the Luas or the […]