Developing Sentencing Guidelines for Ireland: The Principles and Purposes of Sentencing

21st October 2021

The Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) and the Irish Criminal Bar Association (ICBA) held a Prison Law Seminar on Developing Sentencing Guidelines for Ireland: The Principles and Purposes of Sentencing on Thursday 21st October 2021 (via Zoom).  

This was the second in IPRT’s 2021 Prison Law Seminar Series and explored the work of the recently established Sentencing Guidelines and Information Committee in developing sentencing guidelines for Ireland, as well as the principles and purposes that should underpin any reform of Ireland’s sentencing laws. 

We were delighted to welcome The Hon. Ms. Justice Iseult O’Malley, Chair of the Sentencing Guidelines and Information Committee, to provide the keynote speech at the event. Ms Justice O’Malley provided an update on the Committee’s work to date, and spoke about the importance of collecting and analysing data about sentencing in Ireland as a first step in the development of sentencing guidelines. To that end, we were delighted to hear of the Committee’s plans to publish on its website a summary of the existing judgments which set out sentence guidelines for a range of offences, as well as the Committee’s engagement of external researchers to assess methodological approaches to sentencing data and analysis. *Hon Ms. Justice O'Malley's remarks are available on request.*

Other speakers and respondents included:   

• Sheriff Principal Craig Turnbull, Sheriff Principal of Glasgow and Strathkelvin and Member of the Scottish Sentencing Council *Sheriff Principal Turnbull's remarks are available on request.* 

• Professor Michael Tonry, McKnight Presidential Professor of Criminal Law and Policy at the University of Minnesota and author of Doing Justice, Preventing Crime (OUP, 2020) *Professor Tonry's presentation slides are available on request.* 

• Dr Ian Marder, Assistant Professor in Criminology at Maynooth University  

• Noeline Blackwell, Chief Executive Officer at the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre

• Molly Joyce, Legal & Public Affairs Manager at the Irish Penal Reform Trust  

The seminar was chaired by IPRT Executive Director, Fíona Ní Chinnéide.
 

Click here to watch the recording of the seminar on YouTube, or simply scroll to the bottom of this page.
 

CPD Points: Attendance at the seminar may qualify for CPD points. Qualification is determined by the points’ issuer. IPRT is happy to provide certificates of attendance on request. Please contact info@iprt.ie with the email and name you used to attend the seminar.
 

Media coverage:

• The Irish Times: Prison sentencing guidelines to factor in costs of punishments
• Irish Examiner: Judges want help with sexual violence and domestic abuse sentencing
• Kfm: IPRT's Molly Joyce speaks about sentencing reform

IPRT's Legal & Public Affairs Programme is supported through a donor-advised fund of the Community Foundation for Ireland.