Vol. 409 No. 5
102 Mr. S. Barrett asked the Minister for Justice if he will outline the steps, if any, he can take to review the case of a person (details supplied) who is serving a 12-year sentence for rape and who claims that he is totally innocent of the crime; and if he will make a statement on the matter.
The person mentioned in the Deputy's question was convicted on a charge of rape in the Dublin Circuit Court and sentenced to 12 years penal servitude. Subsequently he appealed the conviction to the Court of Criminal Appeal. However, he was unsuccesful in his appeal and his application to take an appeal to the Supreme Court was also refused by the courts. With full remission he would be eligible for release in July 1997.
It will be appreciated that, under the Constitution, the courts are independent in the carrying out of their judicial functions. Accordingly, it would not be appropriate, and I do not propose, to make any comment on the circumstances or the outcome of this case in so far as the courts are concerned.
It is open to me to commute or remit any punishment imposed by a court exercising criminal jurisdiction, under a power delegated by the Government to the Minister for Justice under the Criminal Justice Act, 1951, or to grant temporary release under the Criminal Justice Act, 1960, to offenders imprisoned by the courts. I am satisfied on examination of this case, however, that it would not be appropriate to exercise either of these powers, at least at this stage.
