The Minister for Justice said she has “every confidence” the Parole Board will take into consideration recommendations from judges on how long a life sentence a prisoner should serve under new legislation.
The Government approved proposals to give judges the discretion to recommend minimum jail terms for those sentenced to life imprisonment.
Treason and murder are subject to mandatory life sentences in Ireland.
Life imprisonment may also be imposed for a range of other serious offences, including rape, attempted murder and assault causing serious harm.
This will ensure that people who commit the most serious crimes can be dealt with in a way that reflects their culpability and the harm they have caused. @DeptJusticeIRL
🔗 - https://t.co/jhNUiO3HtQ pic.twitter.com/z9sHeebvRXAdvertisement— Helen McEntee TD (@HMcEntee) August 7, 2024
The draft laws propose that when sentences are being handed down, judges will make a recommendation on what minimum term should be served in prison before parole is granted.
The Parole Board will be required to take that recommendation into account in making their decisions, however it is a non-binding recommendation, and the Parole Board will continue to be responsible for deciding when a person will be released.
Ms McEntee said on Wednesday: “When developing this legislation, we had to look at all elements of it and whether or not we would make a judge’s recommendation mandatory on the parole board.
“A decision was taken, looking at the role and the function of the Parole Board, that that would interfere with their function and their role in looking at how a prisoner has spent time in prison, and obviously the implications that that then has on their overall sentence.
“It is important to stress, so that this will put a legal requirement on the board to take into consideration what a judge has recommended at the time of sentencing.
“It’s already the case that the judge can make comments when a sentence has been passed, if it’s mandatory or otherwise, and that is often taken into consideration by the Parole Board.
“I have every confidence that the parole board will take into consideration.
“This is not a minimum sentence either, a judge could recommend 20, 25, 30 years. That doesn’t mean at that stage then a prisoner would be automatically released.
“There is a legal requirement by the Parole Board to take it into consideration, and I have every confidence, based on the way in which the Parole Board has operated and functioned over the last few years, that they will be taking this into consideration.”
Ms McEntee added: “I’ve listened to victims, I have listened to victim’s groups and our judiciary, and have heard the frustration around sentencing, many of which I share, and so following the enactment of this legislation the sentencing judge will be able to propose a minimum sentence and that sentence can be 20, 25 or 30 years beyond that.”
A prisoner will not be automatically released after the judicially recommended minimum has been served.
Ms McEntee published the general scheme of the draft laws, called the Life Sentences Bill 2024, on Wednesday.
It will now be referred to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice for pre-legislative scrutiny.
The Department of Justice is to engage with the Office of Parliamentary Counsel to progress the drafting of the Bill.
Ms McEntee said this Bill will provide for sentencing courts “to reflect the gravity of the most heinous offences”.
Last year, the maximum penalty for assault causing harm, one of the most commonly prosecuted violent offences, was increased from five years to 10 years.
The maximum sentences for assaulting gardai and frontline workers were also increased, from seven to 12 years.
New standalone offences of non-fatal strangulation and stalking were also introduced by Ms McEntee.
Taoiseach Simon Harris said the Bill is a “major and significant legislative reform”.
“It empowers our judiciary to send a very clear message on behalf of society that some crimes are so heinous, that horrify and appal us so much, that they would recommend a minimum tariff that should be spent in prison before parole becomes realised,” he said on Wednesday.
“To victims, representative organisations, and indeed listening to comments from the judiciary from time to time, where they too have called to be empowered in this area.”
