Sir, Quakers are deeply concerned at the rising levels of crime and lawlessness in our society. We believe that it is the duty of every citizen to uphold law and order. We find the idea that crimes are being committed by individuals while released on bail disquieting. However, we are also concerned that the current proposal to amend the constitution may not have the desired impact.on crime. We fear that it may, in fact, lead to a deterioration in individual civil liberties and to a worsening of conditions in our already overcrowded prison system.
Among the reasons for our concern at this proposal are:
1. It presumes guilt before a trial, thus denying liberty to people not yet found guilty of an offence.
2. People imprisoned on remand will lost their employment or social welfare entitlements and possibly also their homes, families and social support net works, even though they may subsequently be found to be innocent. This will make rehabilitation into society very difficult, even for people who are not guilty of an offence.
3. We believe that the alternative options to reduce the number of crimes committed on bail, i.e. consecutive sentencing and forfeiture of bail, have not yet been thoroughly tested.
4. We are concerned that the practice of imposing non custodial sentences in certain cases might be undermined if individuals before the courts have already served some months in prison prior to their trial.
5. It has been estimated that up to 600 additional prison places will be required for remand prisoners, while 400 extra places are already required to relieve existing overcrowding in prisons and related early releases. It seems to us inevitable, therefore, that convicted prisoners will be released even earlier to allow for imprisonment of people who have not been convicted of any offence.
We are concerned that very serious issues of individual liberty will be put at risk by this proposal while other, more feasible and acceptable options to tackle the problem are available. - Yours, etc.,
Clerk of Dublin Monthly
Meeting,
Religious Society of Friends
(Quakers),
Swanbrook House,
Bloomfield Avenue,
Morehampton Road,
Dublin 4.