Vol. 461 No. 8
10 Mr. O'Donoghue asked the Minister for Justice whether she has received the IBEC submission on the reform of the criminal justice system; the measures, if any, she intends to introduce with a view to implementing any or all of the recommendations contained in the submission. [3893/96]
IBEC presented me with a copy of its submission on the reform of the criminal justice system. Its recommendations are receiving consideration in my Department. Deputies will be aware, however, that work was already under way in my Department before I received the IBEC document, which will meet many of its recommendations. For example, IBEC has called for changes in the bail law and I have already set out my position in this regard.
The submission expresses concern about the imposition of concurrent as opposed to consecutive sentences and calls for a change in the law which would, in effect, abolish the upper limit on the aggregate term of imprisonment which the District Court could impose through use of consecutive sentences.
The House will be aware that, some time ago, the Law Reform Commission published a consultation paper on sentencing policy and a report from the commission is awaited. I will consider what IBEC has to say with regard to sentencing in the context of this report, but I should sound a note of caution. The Criminal Justice Act, 1984, already makes provision for the imposition of consecutive sentences up to a maximum of 24 months. This limit was imposed because, constitutionally, there is a limit to the sentencing powers which can be given to a court of summary jurisdiction and it would not be possible to allow the District Court to impose consecutive sentences without some upper maximum in operation. This matter would be best addressed in the context of the overall view of sentencing policy.
IBEC also called for additional resources for the courts. The House will be aware that on 30 January, I received approval from Government to appoint 15 additional judges, three to the Supreme Court, two the High Court, seven to the Circuit Court and three to the District Court. I am confident that the appointment of these additional judges, together with the necessary support staff which will be appointed as the judges are appointed, will provide the courts with the resources they require to effectively tackle the current arrears of court business and will assist in the prompt disposal of cases in the future.
Specifically with regard to the hearing of criminal cases, the Courts and Court Officers Act, 1995, does away with the automatic right of transfer of criminal cases from the provincial Circuit Court to Dublin. Such transfers had exacerbated the delays in the hearing of criminal cases in Dublin and were also very costly in terms of transporting gardaí and witnesses.
I am committed to providing an effective and efficient court system. To this end I have set up a working group on a courts commission which is vigorously pressing ahead with a major reappraisal of the organisation and structure of the courts, including examination of a proposal to establish an independent body with financial and managerial autonomy.
With regard to the recommendation on offenders contained in the IBEC submission, I would refer the Deputy to the document entitled, The Management of Offenders—A Five Year Plan. This document, which was published in 1994, contains in chapter five a review of the current temporary release arrangements together with a number of specific proposals for the future. In brief, these proposals provide for a reduction in the number of unsupervised releases in favour of a system where the majority of releases would be closely supervised by the Probation and Welfare Service.
The plan also provides for an increase in the number of prison places which I announced on 30 January 1996. The establishment of a prisons board and a parole board are among a number of options being actively examined at present in accordance with the commitment contained in paragraph 119 of the programme, A Government of Renewal, published in December 1994. The outcome of this examination will, in the first instance, be brought before Government for its consideration as soon as possible.
Is the Minister aware of a general feeling that the small trader's outlet has become the chosen target of criminal gangs and individuals in preference to larger institutions where security is better? IBEC is concerned about the ability and capacity of the legal system to provide the type of deterrent required. Concern has been expressed about early releases. Does the Minister believe the stage has been reached where victims of crime should have a consultative role in the release of prisoners, and that legislation should be enacted to provide for this?
Yes, I have read the IBEC report which highlights the fact that in recent years small business retailers and wholesalers have increasingly become the target of petty criminals looking for small sums of money to feed their drug habits. I met representatives of RGDATA and received a number of submissions on the issue from that organisation. There is a suggestion that victims of crime should have a consultative role in regard to the release of prisoners. I do not know of any jurisdiction where that happens apart from New Zealand where victims of crimes committed by juvenile offenders are given a consultative role. Under that system, teenage offenders are confronted by their victims. Given that about 10,000 people go through our prisons every year, it would not be practical to allow victims of crime to be involved in a consultative capacity every time a person is being considered for early or temporary release.
I have expressed my concern about the early and temporary release system which over the past three to four years has steadily come to rely more on emptying places for other people rather than on some of the other reasons for granting temporary releases, although they form part of the decision. I do not think there is a future in looking at a consultative role for victims in the early release process, but victims have a role to play in many other ways.
In the past the Prison Officers' Association was strongly critical of the fact that sentences handed down by a court set up under the 1937 Constitution can subsequently be shortened by administrative decisions rather than judicial ones. In this context, would the Minister consider it useful and fruitful to have an independent parole system to control and monitor all releases?
The last part of that question forms part of another question on today's Order Paper so I feel I should not go into it in any detail. The Prison Officers' Association is well aware that since 1960 there has been a system of temporary and early releases and paroles, as the Deputy calls them, in our penal system. It is slightly unusual for the prison officers to suddenly say there should not be early or temporary releases, since they have been part and parcel of managing the system for many years. There is no doubt that early and temporary releases have been a growing feature of our prison system — not just in the past year or two, but in the past four to five years — as more people are convicted in the courts, and as new places are not coming on stream. I hope that with my prison programme there will be a reduction of those decisions.
