Vol. 504 No. 2
69 Mr. McDowell asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the plans, if any, he has to implement the recommendations of the Law Reform Commission on the introduction of non-statutory guidelines on sentencing; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [11549/99]
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 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 they hold similar meetings.
The Courts and Courts Officers Act, 1995 enable me to provide funds for judicial training courses arranged by the Judiciary and, this year, I made £60,000 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.
