A strategic goal of IPRT is to promote reform of Irish sentencing practice and help ensure greater transparency around the principles and purposes of sentencing.
We aim to promote the principle that detention should only be used as a last resort while remaining committed to supporting the principles of proportionality and judicial independence in sentencing.
IPRT believes that imprisonment itself causes serious social harms, and therefore should only be used sparingly at the point of sentencing when non-custodial alternatives are not available or are deemed inappropriate.
IPRT does not support any type of sentencing that either removes or severely limits the discretion of the judge to decide what sentence should apply, given all the circumstances of the case.
One example of this approach is mandatory sentencing, where there is no discretion left to the judge. It means that for certain offences, the judge must impose a particular sentence (a particular term of imprisonment). There is no other option regarding sentencing available to the court.
Another example is called ‘presumptive minimum’ sentencing; this type of sentence means that a judge must apply a specific minimum penalty, unless exceptional circumstances exist that would make it unfair or unjust to do so. However, such circumstances can often only be considered for the first offence, as for second or other offences, the minimum sentence must then be imposed regardless. This type of sentencing is often used with serious offences, such as certain drug offences, firearms offences, and murder (murder carries a mandatory life sentence). IPRT opposes this type of sentencing on the basis that such sentences are ineffective in preventing or responding to crime.
In the Criminal Justice Policy: Review of Policy Options for Prison and Penal Reform 2022-2024, the Department of Justice outlined actions that will significantly impact sentencing in Ireland, such as proposals to incorporate the principle of ‘prison as a last resort’ in statute and to develop and expand the range of community sanctions as alternatives to imprisonment. IPRT will continue to advocate for the Government to meet these commitments.
28th October 2010
New research carried out by the Nuffield Foundation suggests that public support for the mandatory sentence of life imprisonment for murder is much more limited than has traditionally been assumed.
14th October 2010
Research carried out by the Howard League for Penal Reform, in collaboration with the Prison Governors' Association, has shown that many prison governors do not believe that short sentences are effective.
12th October 2010
In the United States, the Missouri Sentencing Advisory Commission has recently started to provide judges and others involved in sentencing and corrections with information about treatment programs and supervision options available in the community and in prison.
1st September 2010
The Inspector of Prisons has called for a new courts system which would address the causes of criminality rather than criminalise offenders, reports Cormac O'Keeffe in the 'Irish Examiner'.
3rd August 2010
The Irish Sentencing Information System provides a new online tool for researching sentencing.
28th June 2010
Judge Michael Reilly the inspector of prisons describes how both numbers of criminal offences and the prison population can be reduced.
21st June 2010
The Prison Governors Association, Napo (probation officers' union) and the Howard League have today called on the government to end its £4 billion prison building programme, and to instead increase the use of community sanctions.
24th May 2010
The numbers being processed through the Drug Treatment Court are to be expanded following a review which shows that the scheme has reduced reoffending rates.
16th March 2010
After nearly a year, the Fines Bill has been passed by the Dail and has gone to the Seanad for its approval. It is hoped that the draft legislation will become law by the summer.
10th March 2010
A new report by the National Audit Office in the UK highlights the social and economic cost of short sentences.
Respect for rights in the penal system with prison as a last resort.