Brendan McGahon
Question:15 Mr. McGahon asked the Minister for Justice if he will consider amending legislation to consider mandatory sentencing for rape offences without parole.
Written Answers. - Rape Offences.
I have given careful consideration to the question of mandatory sentences for persons convicted of rape and have concluded that it would not be advisable to provide for mandatory sentences in such cases.
The courts are not generally lenient with persons convicted of rape, the average sentence imposed being between 5 and 12 years imprisonment. In more serious cases heavier sentences have been imposed including one of life imprisonment.
There have been exceptional cases where the sentence imposed has caused public concern because it has been viewed as being excessively lenient. I want to emphasise that what I am speaking of here is a public perception and nothing that I am saying in this reply is intended to comment on or indicate any opinion in relation to any individual case. I believe that the way this issue should be addressed is not to introduce mandatory sentencing but rather to enable the Director of Public Prosecutions to apply for review or appeal of a sentence which appears to him to have been unduly lenient. The Criminal Justice Bill, 1992 which I recently presented to the Dáil sets out a legislative structure providing for such review. Incidentally, I have discussed this matter with relevant interest groups including the Council for the Status of Women and the Rape Crisis Centre and they agree with my approach.
On the question of parole, I have powers under the Criminal Justice Act, 1960 to grant temporary release in individual circumstances. Persons committed to prison are reviewed regularly either by my Department or by the Sentence Review Group. Cases are reviewed by reference to well established criteria including assessment of whether a release would constitute a threat to the community and whether it would be reasonable to grant release at a particular stage in view of the crime committed, the offender's criminal record and any compassionate grounds which warrant special consideration. These criteria accord fully with international practice.
The final decision to release in all cases rests with me and before deciding on any release my main concern is to ensure as far as practicable that the release of any prisoner will not constitute a threat to the community.