Government backs `zero tolerance bill'

The Government has approved the text of the so-called "Zero tolerance bill" to allow severe mandatory minimum sentences for drug-trafficking and other measures to expedite criminal trials, Maol Muire Tynan reports.The Criminal Justice Bill, 1997, will be published today. Cabinet yesterday sanctioned the measures. The main provisions allow the imposition of mandatory 10-year sentences for people convicted of trafficking in drugs to the value of £10,000. According to the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, the legislation will also allow trials to take place more quickly through the abolition of preliminary examinations.