Activating suspended terms unconstitutional

A High Court judge has made formal declarations that laws allowing the courts activate suspended sentences are unconstitutional. At least 15 cases are to come before another judge today, with five of them initiated yesterday.

Yesterday, arising from his judgment delivered in cases by six other prisoners on April 19, Mr Justice Michael Moriarty formally declared sections 99.9 and 99.10 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006, as amended, are unconstitutional.

Those subsections govern the courts’ powers to activate suspended sentences.