Jack Wall
Question:42 Mr. Wall asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if he will introduce sentencing guidelines for the courts; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [25168/98]
Written Answers - Sentencing Policy.
The courts are, subject only to the Constitution and the law, independent in the exercise of their judicial functions and I, as a member of the Executive, am precluded from intervening directly.
Under our legal system, the law provides generally for maximum penalties for criminal offences. The law enables the judge to exercise his discretion, within the maximum penalty, by reference to the conclusions he or she has reached after trying the case, hearing all the evidence and assessing the culpability and the circumstances of the accused. Our system of recruitment to all levels of the judiciary is based on the concept of bringing in experienced and trained legal practitioners and, consequently, judges, on appointment, have a wide knowledge of the law and its application.
Section 36 of the Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act, 1961, makes provision for meetings of District Court judges to discuss, inter alia, the avoidance of undue divergence in the exercise of the jurisdiction of the court and the general level of fines and penalties. While there is no similar provision in the case of other courts, I understand that they hold similar meetings.
The Courts and Court Officers Act, 1995, enables me to provide funds for judicial training courses arranged by the Judiciary and, this year, I made £50,000 available to the Judicial Studies Institute, which was established by the Chief Justice for the purposes of judicial training. I understand that the issue of sentencing has been examined by the institute in the context of its training programme.
The complex question of sentencing policy was addressed at length by the Law Reform Commission. Action has already been taken on a number of its recommendations — for example, the Criminal Law Act, 1997, abolished the penalties of penal servitude and imprisonment with hard labour. The Law Reform Commission report specifically recommends against the introduction of statutory sentencing guidelines. Other recommendations contained in the report are being considered at present. Any proposals which may emerge from this examination will be announced in the usual way. Finally, the report pointed up a number of differences of opinion among members of the Commission in relation to some of the recommendations in that report, which tends to underline the obvious complexities which arise in relation to sentencing policy.