Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 7 February 2012
65Deputy Maureen O’Sullivan asked the Minister for Justice and Equality his views on the principle of community courts being used to harness the power of the justice system to address more located crime; and if he considers that a pilot scheme could be initiated within the present resources. [6841/12]
Amharc ar fhreagraAs the Deputy will be aware, the biggest volume of crime in Ireland is tried in the local District Courts which are established pursuant to the Constitution as courts of local and limited jurisdiction. Some jurisdictions also have developed what are sometimes referred to as problem solving courts. Models include community courts, drug courts and restorative programmes. These can vary in character but generally incorporate a combination of sanction for the crime, assistance in rehabilitation and reparation to either the victim or the community in which the offence took place.
Some years ago the National Crime Council published a report entitled, Problem Solving Justice, the Case for Community Courts in Ireland. The report examined the position in the United States and the United Kingdom to ascertain how such courts worked in practice and made recommendations for the establishment of a court on a pilot basis. These recommendations have not been implemented to date and, as the Deputy is aware, are potentially resource-intensive.
There are, however, a number of restorative justice options in operation, including two structural projects based in Nenagh and Tallaght that represent problem solving approaches. Community courts also share many of the characteristics of the Dublin Drug Treatment Court which has operated in the north city centre area for some years and was expanded significantly in 2011. I am considering the possibility of its further expansion.
There are a number of non-custodial sentencing options available to the courts, including suspended sentences, community service orders, fines, compensation orders and probation orders. I am informed the number of community service orders increased by almost 40% in 2011 compared with 2010, with 537 orders being made in the final quarter of 2011 following the commencement on 1 October last of the Criminal Justice (Amendment) Act 2011 which introduced a requirement for judges, when considering the imposition of a sentence of 12 months or less, to first consider the alternative sanction of community service. As the Deputy is aware, community service generally is carried out in the local community, of benefit to that community and costs taxpayers a good deal less than a term of imprisonment.
Additional information not given on the floor of the House.
While the scale of restorative justice initiatives in Ireland is modest, this must be viewed in the context of Ireland's very small prison population. It is worth noting that, according to the Courts Service annual report for 2010, just under 5% of offences heard in the District Court resulted in terms of imprisonment.
In my address last year to the Irish Penal Reform Trust I outlined my commitment to developing workable alternatives to custody which promoted a balanced but targeted rehabilitation of offenders. Since coming to office, I have prioritised a number of relevant initiatives, including the development of a national anti-crime strategy that is at the last stage of preparation in my Department. In addition, a number of key recommendations contained in the Thornton Hall review group report that I published last July are receiving priority attention in my Department, most notably the introduction of an incentivised scheme for early temporary release, under which offenders who posed no threat to the community would be offered early temporary release in return for supervised community service. A further recommendation was the establishment of a strategic review of penal policy which would incorporate an examination and analysis of all aspects of penal policy, including prevention, sentencing policies and alternatives to custody. I intend to establish a working group to further this work in the near future. Work is ongoing to ensure full implementation of the Fines Act 2010.
As the Deputy acknowledges, the introduction of community courts has resource implications, mainly in respect of the intensive multidisciplinary team required by such a court. In the context of the other related developments I have mentioned, I have no plans to choose community courts. It is, however, an option I will keep under review.
Dublin Central has both prisons and prisoners. There is a disproportionate number of people in prison who come from certain areas in the constituency. I accept what the Minister stated in respect of community service, etc., but a community court could play a particular role. I acknowledge the work of the National Crime Council and the Dublin City Business Association in respect of the process relating to that report. Would it not be possible to try to establish a community court on a pilot basis within existing resources? Let us face it, the current system is not working. As one judge stated, the same people are continually being recycled through the system. Would it not be possible to use existing resources to set up a community court which could be located in the inner city, perhaps adjacent to Store Street or Pearse Street, where there are high levels of particular types of crime?
As the Deputy is aware, crime levels in particular areas are influenced by a range of issues and a community court would not provide a panacea in the context of dealing with the various difficulties which exist in such areas. We are engaged in a number of different pilot schemes. I share the Deputy's view that too many people currently within our prisons are serving very short sentences. These individuals pose no risk to the community and would be better dealt with through the community service order system. That is why we introduced the legislation that was enacted last July. Those to whom I refer could be assisted through the restorative justice schemes. There is a need for in-built programmes to deal with both drug and alcohol abuse. There is no point in individuals serving a few short weeks in jail and then returning to the outside world with the addictions which led them to become involved in criminality in the first instance.
As the Deputy may be aware, in the address I delivered to the Irish Penal Reform Trust last year I made a commitment to develop workable alternatives to custody which promote a balanced but targeted rehabilitation of offenders. Since coming to office I have prioritised a number of initiatives, including the development of a national anti-crime strategy, which is currently at an advanced stage. The Deputy may also be aware that we are operating a pilot scheme to which I referred previously in the House, whereby prisoners who are serving sentences within the prison system, who are of good behaviour and who pose no risk to the community but who have not yet reached the stage where they are eligible for remission may be released subject to their signing an agreement and condition that they do community service. I am advised that this scheme is working well. I hope we will have an opportunity to extend it in the future.
I welcome everything the Minister said and I am personally committed to the notion of restorative justice because there are some very good examples of where this works. However, I remain of the view that there is a role for community courts and the judges who would operate them. Such courts have very direct connections with the communities in which they are located. It is, after all, certain communities in particular areas which are plagued by what is termed low level crime, although that is not how those who live in such communities would categorise it, especially as their lives are being disturbed. To give offenders the opportunity to make amends to communities is the best way to put an end to the revolving door system.
The best way for an offender to make amends to a community is through community service. The Probation Service is involved in extensive engagement in this area. The effect of the community service orders legislation was evident in the final quarter of 2011 when it became apparent that there had been a substantial increase in the making of community service orders. I welcome the latter development. It will be interesting to see what will be the pattern for 2012 in its entirety. I expect there will be a similar increase as the courts become used to the new legal arrangements that are in place.
The establishment of a new community court, even on a pilot basis, would require additional resources. I am operating a Department which has €100 million less available to it for 2012. For a community court to operate successfully, there would be a need for multidisciplinary staff with particular expertise to be employed because it would otherwise be a community court in name only. Unfortunately, I do not currently possess the resources to allow me to employ additional people in that context.
