Legislated powers for illegitimate private gain

The use of legislated powers for illegitimate private gain is known as political corruption which poses considerable threat to the economical and political stability of any State.

http://unpan1.un.org/intradoc/groups/public/documents/ASPA/UNPAN000533.pdf

Politically Exposed Person

 

A small economy where one particular party was in power for fourteen years with particular conections to property speculation and the construction business leads to the suspicion that there existed  in this State the very  perils addressed in the Third Directive . The tardy implementation of the Directive propounds such fear . Until the Directive was implemented   banks were not obliged to report or to investigate who  the real owner of assets  or money was.  A  person  holding an influential position in Ireland  could hold several accounts within a bank  in the name of another or others.This placed the Irish economy at significant risk  .  The person might seek to make a law to his or her own benefit .The Criminal Justice Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing Act  2010 which implemented the  Third Directive into Irish Law was passed into  our Statute Book  in July 2010 (some three years late). A further bank was created in the State prior to the implementation into law of the Directive .This bank was called NAMA (The National Asset Managment Agency )  and it was established on the 21 December 2009 .This bank remains immune from challenge by either the  Third Directive  or the 2010 Act .

The Risk posed by a Bad Banker

Bankers with an intimate knowledge of a  customers’ businesses  including their vulnerabilities are in a position to insert conditions  in agreements which are directed at businesses vulnerabilities . These are then exploited . The bank then enforce their security  through a strict interpretation of their contracts .In this way  they are able to destabilise a business and secure judgment and thereby the asset of the business. This risk is universally recognised and was among  the perils addressed by the Third Directive 2005/60 EC on the protection of the use of the financial system for the purposes of money laundering and terrorist activity. The writer does  not seek to connect the ills addressed by the Third Directive namely money laundering and politically exposed persons but the reader is asked to make their own conclsuions as to the reluctance of the Irish State to implement this measure.

Breach of Third Directive by Ireland

 

Having warned Ireland the European Commission prosecuted Ireland for failing to implement the Directive , a somewhat peculiar reluctance if one examines the situation of Anglo Irish Bank and Irish Nationwide and others one would have  expected  a speedy enactment 

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=CELEX:62008J0532:EN:HTML

Safeguarding the Rule of Law

The small size of the Irish economy has made it particularly vulnerable to infiltration. In this context the issues addressed in the Third Directive 2005/60 EC For the Prevention of the use of the financial system for money laundering and Terrorist Financing. Ireland was notable in its very slow enactment of the provisions especially the provisions in relation to accounts within the banking sector of those who held public office in the State  or were politically exposed .

http://eur-lex.europa.eu/LexUriServ/LexUriServ.do?uri=OJ:L:2005:309:0015:0036:EN:PDF

Irish Banks and the Law

Fundamental basic rights acknowledged 800 years ago as are as important today as then . Fair Procedures are a requisite for a fair hearing or trial whether it is in the  criminal or the civil sphere. In this respect the Irish High Court has seen some interesting decisions relating to the question of property and the operations of banks which behave with apparent impunity .

Legal Framework In Ireland

Irish Law is based on the English Common Law.Common Law is founded on custom ,statutes and statutes of Parliament.Perhaps the most famous basis of the Common Law is Magna Carta .The Great Charter guarantees certain fundamental rights to the individual .Its importance is recognised throughout the Common Law world ie the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth .

Magna Carta

No freeman shall be taken, or imprisoned, or disseised, or outlawed, or exiled, or in any way harmed–nor will we go upon or send upon him–save by the lawful judgment of his peers or by the law of the land.

To none will we sell, to none deny or delay, right or justice