Vol. 504 No. 2
77 Mr. J. O'Keeffe asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform if his attention has been drawn to the practice of plea bargaining in the courts as highlighted in a letter from the Director of Public Prosecutions to the Chief State Solicitor in June 1998; and his views on the opinion expressed that, if this practice is to occur within this jurisdiction, it should be provided for by legislation. [11499/99]
I am aware that the Director of Public Prosecutions has expressed reservations about the practice of discussing sentencing in chambers and has issued instructions to prosecuting counsel to discontinue the practice. He has expressed the view that if this practice is to occur within the jurisdiction, it should be provided for by legislation, after appropriate consideration of all the factors by relevant parties.
This issue was discussed in the Law Reform Commission Report on Sentencing (August 1996). The Commission made no recommendation for legislation in the area of plea negotiations. It did state, however, that:
If sentencing becomes more predictable as a result of the judiciary being better informed in general and having available to them a series of headline judgments of the Court of Criminal Appeal in different cases, there would be no need for such negotiations in chambers. Again, as the virtual inevitability of a discount after a plea is well established at this stage, it should be possible to obtain an indication in open court – even of the range of sentence that would be imposed and of the discount which could be anticipated – without consideration of aggravating or mitigating circumstances or previous convictions.
Recommendation 8 of my Department's report arising from the early release from prison of Philip Sheedy recommends that the Committee on Court Practice and Procedure should be asked "to urgently review current practice in the courts in relation to plea negotiations". This matter is under consideration by the Government and I expect that an early decision will be made.
