LRC move no surprise

The Law Reform Commission report into mandatory sentencing found the system to be a cod, writes Michael Clifford

IN THE end, there wasn’t as much as a whimper from the usual quarters. Last Tuesday, the Law Reform Commission issued a report on the use of mandatory sentences. The report included extensive research, and examined practices and results in other jurisdictions. One of its main recommendations was that the system of so-called mandatory minimum sentences should be discontinued.

This system was first introduced in 1999 in relation to drugs offences, but was extended eight years ago to include firearms offences. The drugs offences, where it was primarily used, stipulated that possession of at least €13,000 worth of illegal drugs would attract a minimum prison sentence of 10 years, unless special circumstances applied. The latter provision meant that the sentences were “mandatory”, but actually “presumptive”, but mandatory sounded tougher so it was the term that was most frequently used by both politicians and media.