Imprisonment in Laois jails could soon be reduced but life sentences could be longer

Imprisonment at jails in Portlaoise and elsewhere could soon be legally the last resort for people who break the law according to a new report published by the Minister for Justice.

However, offenders convicted of the most serious crimes, including murder, could face a minimum term of up to 30 years without parole under proposed reforms by the Department of Justice.

The Criminal Justice Policy - Review of Policy Options for Prison and Penal Reform 2022-2024 also proposes putting a clear focus on community-based sanctions and alternatives to prison to ensure that people who commit a low-level offence do not have to serve a prison sentence. 

The Department of Justice says interventions identified in the policy aim to reduce reoffending, support desistance from offending, avoid overcrowding in prisons, and reduce reliance on custodial sentences as the primary criminal sanction except where determined necessary and proportionate to the suffering of the victim, particularly in relation to serious crimes which may result in life sentences.

The report notes the already relatively low level of imprisonment in Ireland but says the average cost of an “available, staffed prison space” in 2020 was €80,445. Probation Supervision is estimated to cost approximately €5,712 per year. 

One of the actions is minimum sentencing. Minister for Justice Helen McEntee said that judges will be given powers to set minimum tariffs of between 15 and 30 years before prisoners would be allowed to go before a parole board. Under the current law, a prisoner sentenced to life imprisonment is eligible for parole when they have served at least 12 years of their sentence.

"This policy is very much about striking the right balance by looking at the type of crime, the victims involved, and how do we rehabilitate people.

“What I’m proposing here and what I bring forward in legislation in January is to allow a judge in those particularly heinous cases, to set minimum tariffs of 15, 20, 30, years before a person can come before the parole board, acknowledging that where serious crimes are committed we need to make sure that the punishment matches it,” Ms McEntee said.

The report published by Minister McEntee says the review identifies a number of guiding principles as underpinning penal policy and practice which should guide priorities going forward. 

It says there should be a sparing approach to the use of imprisonment.

"Acknowledging judicial discretion, imprisonment should be used as a sanction of last resort for those who commit the most serious of offences, typically those which justify a sentence of 12 months or longer, or individuals who the Courts determine
cannot be managed safely in the community," it says.

The report says all criminal sanctions should uphold human rights and respect the dignity of those affected – the victim and those affected by harm, offenders and wider society.

It adds that punishment within criminal sanctions should, as far as reasonably feasible, be subject to the principle of proportionality and assist in the offenders’ rehabilitation and reintegration.

Where possible, potential for the offender to make good and repair the harm caused by offending should be facilitated and realised.

The policy says a range of relevant services must be available to support rehabilitation and reintegration of offenders, as citizens. Collaboration, co-operation and coordination is called for across the justice sector, as well as the involvement of the noncriminal justice sector in addressing offending and assisting offenders in maintaining crime free lifestyles is key.

"Community sanctions, operating both with and without supervision, provide an effective response to offending and their value, at all stages in the system, and ought to be fully recognised, while also recognising the value of victims in the Criminal Justice system by increasing supports and services in compliance with the EU Victims’ Rights Directive," says the report.

The report sets out 21 actions some of which it lists as priority steps to take. They are as follows:

Priority Action 1- To consider the incorporation of prison as a sanction of last resort in statute, in relation to people who do not pose a risk of serious harm, to reduce reoffending and overcrowding in prisons

Priority Action 2 – To develop and expand the range of community based sanctions including alternatives to imprisonment to reduce re-offending and overcrowding in prisons

Priority Action 3 – To take forward the implementation plan of the taskforce established to consider the mental health and addiction challenges of those imprisoned and primary care support on release

Priority Action 4 – To ensure that all criminal justice policy decisions are pre-assessed to determine, as far as possible, their impact across the criminal justice sector

Priority Action 5 – To establish a Penal Policy Consultative Council

Priority Action 6 – To introduce judicial discretion to set minimum tariffs for life sentences and examine the effectiveness of use of mandatory minimum sentences for certain crimes

Action 7 – To review the Criminal Justice (Spent Convictions and Certain Disclosures) Act 2016 to broaden the range of convictions that are considered spent
Action 8 – Work with all criminal justice agencies to build capacity to deliver restorative justice safely and effectively
Action 9 – To review remission and temporary release to improve rehabilitation and reduce reoffending and overcrowding in prisons
Action 10 – To review the impact of the Fines (Payment and Recovery) Act 2014 in particular with regard to the impact of short custodial sentences
Action 11 – To improve inter-agency working through the development and implementation of a Criminal Justice Sectoral Strategy and Community Safety Policy.
Action 12 – Take a comprehensive approach to the development of the Irish Prison
Service’s next Capital Strategy, ensuring the availability of modern detention facilities with adequate capacity
Action 13 – To review the Prison Rules 2007 in light of recent changes to the European Prison Rules
Action 14 – To review the existing functions, powers, appointment procedures and reporting processes for prison visiting committees
Action 15 –Post - implementation of the Parole Act 2019, examine the introduction of the Regulations necessary to determine eligibility for parole

Action 16 – Ratify the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention Against Torture
Action 17 – Review the policy of holding immigration detainees in prisons
Action 18 – Implement a new Youth Justice Strategy emphasising prevention, early intervention and inter-agency collaboration
Action 19 – Introduce a diversion approach for young adults of 18 to 24 years old, for certain offences, building on the experience of the Youth Diversion Programme, the adult caution and the pilot Health Diversion Programme in relation to possession of drugs for personal use
Action 20 – Create the offence of grooming children to commit crimes
Action 21 – Extend the pilot schemes of the Youth Joint Agency Response to Crime to more areas to target prolific repeat and vulnerable offenders

In September 2020, the Department of Justice established a working group including the Head of Criminal Justice Policy, the Director-General of the Irish Prison Service and the Director of the Probation Service to take forward the Government’s
commitment to review policy options for prison and penal reform. The review considered commitments and ongoing developments across the justice sector and beyond, including those outlined in a number of relevant strategies.