Dáil Éireann Debate, Tuesday - 11 June 2013
676. Deputy Pádraig Mac Lochlainn asked the Minister for Justice and Equality his plans, if any, to address the anomaly whereby Irish citizens sentenced to imprisonment abroad and repatriated to serve their sentence back home in this State can end up serving longer imprisonment due to less remission available here. [27284/13]
Amharc ar fhreagraI wish to advise the Deputy that the mechanism for enabling the transfer of sentenced prisoners is the Council Of Europe Convention on the Transfer of Sentenced Persons Act 1995 and 1997. The sentences of prisoners transferring into Ireland under the Convention are administered by 'continued enforcement' procedure in accordance with Article 10 of the Convention. Article 6.2b of the Convention provides that the sentencing state shall furnish, to the administering state, a statement indicating how much of the sentence has already been served, including information on any pretrial detention, remission, and any other factor relevant to the enforcement of the sentence.
My Department will take the relevant information provided by the sentencing state (including remission already earned) into account when determining the sentence which will be applicable in this jurisdiction if a transfer proceeds. I should add that prisoners are fully informed, in writing, of the consequences for the enforcement of their sentence when their formal consent to the transfer is being sought. Article 9.3 of the Convention provides that the enforcement of the sentence upon transfer, shall be governed by the law of the administering state (i.e the receiving state). There is no obligation on the Minister to consult with the sentencing state regarding the administration of the sentence. Article 15 of the Convention does provide that the administering state shall furnish information concerning the enforcement of the sentence to the sentencing state in certain circumstances, including when it considers the enforcement of the sentence to have been completed or if the sentencing state requests a special report.
It should also be noted that when a prisoner is approved a transfer from this jurisdiction to another, they will gain the remission rate applicable to the receiving state. For instance, where a prisoner transfers to the UK, their remission rate is increased to 50%, which reduces their sentence length considerably.
