Vol. 466 No. 4
215 Mr. L. Fitzgerald asked the Minister for Justice if her attention has been drawn to any anomaly in the rules of the District Court; if her attention has further been drawn to a case (details supplied); and if so, the plans, if any, she has to address these problems. [11420/96]
The position in the case referred to by the Deputy appears to have arisen not in the context of Rules of Court but in the light of statutory provisions relating to the sentencing jurisdiction of the District Court. The limitations on the sentencing jurisdiction of the District Court reflect the fact that the court is one of summary jurisdiction and constitutional constraints arise as to the extent of penalties which may be imposed by that court. While I have no proposals for changes in the law at present in relation to the issue referred to by the Deputy, I might mention that the question of sentencing policy generally is one on which a report from the Law Reform Commissioner is awaited.
