Significance

• The 2006 act is significant because it defines a crime scene. A crime scene is established by the Garda Síochána (a member of the Irish police). Any area may be classified as a crime scene if a police officer has reasonable suspicion that a crime has, will be or is in the process of being committed there. Once established as a crime scene, the police may prevent individuals from leaving or entering the area.
  
  

Benefits

• The act benefits the courts by allowing the admissibility of certain types of witness statements, especially those made by video recording or audio recording immediately after the crime by the police. The witness must confirm that he made the statement and was not coerced into making the statement.
  
  

Misconceptions

• The act clarifies that an individual may be found guilty of conspiracy in Ireland even if the crime they conspired to commit was never carried out. The act also makes it so that those involved in organized crime in any fashion, even if they were not directly involved in a specific criminal act, may be found guilty of conspiracy.
  
  

Considerations

• The act allows for several new alternatives or augmentations to sentencing and allows for new types of sentencing. These include defining the regulations related to electronic monitoring and giving the courts the ability to suspend the sentence of criminals due to good behavior or other extenuating circumstances as they see fit.