THE IRISH Penal Reform Trust has backed a call from the Law Reform Commission for the current minimum mandatory sentence for the possession of large quantities of drugs to be reviewed.
The trust’s executive director Liam Herrick said the current system – under which there is a presumptive mandatory sentence of 10 years for those in possession of drugs with a “street value” of more than €13,000 – was not having the intended effect of punishing high-level drug dealers.
Mr Herrick said mandatory sentencing was “a blunt instrument” and that problems were created by the fact that people were punished because of the value rather than weight or quantity of drugs found in their possession.
In a consultation paper published yesterday, the Law Reform Commission said it had not been established that presumptive sentences led to reduced levels of criminality and that the mandatory minimum for drug offences, in particular, had led to a bulge in the prison system comprising low-level drugs offenders.
The commission said the situation had arisen because the illegal drugs industry had adapted to the regime by using expendable couriers to hold and transport drugs, and that those at the top of the industry remained untouched.
In addition, it said the mandatory sentence regime gave rise to a discriminatory system of sentencing where all cases are treated the same regardless of differences in the circumstances of the offenders, and that there has been a high level of guilty pleas to avoid a presumptive sentence.
The commission also said the judge in murder trials should be allowed to recommend a minimum number of years to be served and that the proposed judicial council, which is due to be established on a statutory basis later this year, should develop sentencing guidelines for judges.
The consultation paper follows a request from the Attorney General, and outlines the principles on which sentencing policy should be based, including humanitarian and economic considerations, as well as the principle of justice and a proportionate response.
The only crime for which judges have no discretion in Ireland in imposing sentence is in cases of murder, where they must impose a life sentence.
Unlike in Northern Ireland, judges cannot recommend a minimum number of years to be served by those convicted and sentenced to life imprisonment, and the commission recommends that this be rectified, so that a judge may make such a recommendation.
Instead, the commission says the new judicial council should introduce a system of sentencing guidelines for judges, which would take account of the decisions of the Court of Criminal Appeal on sentences, of the principles outlined in the consultation paper and to information in the database prepared by the Courts Service.
Any legislation dealing with sentencing could take account of repeat offending as a factor to be taken into account, according to the consultation paper, which is now open until April 30th for discussion and submissions from interested parties and the public.