Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan rejected claims that Irish courts are lenient on child abuse imagery, insisting that sentencing “across the board” is “consistent”.
Speaking to Gript outside Government Buildings on Wednesday, the Fianna Fáil Minister was asked about the perceived phenomenon of Judges handing down lenient sentences for offenders found to be in possession of depraved child abuse imagery, often in part because of legal precedents such as DPP versus Loving.
Asked if he had any plans to address this issue, the Minister said that the Government’s approach was to set a maximum sentence for an offence, and allow judges to decide the appropriate sentence based on factors such as “early pleas of guilt”.
“I’m not going to comment on sentences that are imposed by the courts, other than to say that it’s a complicated issue, sentencing, and it requires careful and consistent judgements by the courts and I think we do get that,” he said.
“As you’ll be aware, under the Judicial Council Act, there’s sentencing guidelines that can be sought by government. We’ve sought them in respect of certain offences, and I think that’s going to be an interesting development just to see if that can, in the public mind, create greater consistency and awareness of the type of sentences that can be imposed.”
Asked if he was satisfied with the current situation, wherein the pubic were seeing news stories on a weekly basis about serious offenders walking free after being caught with depraved child abuse material, the Minister downplayed the idea that Irish courts had a lenient approach to such crimes.
He indicated that the perception that the courts were lax was often because of the way the media covers crime stories.
“The administration of justice takes place every weekday of the week in district courts, circuit courts and the Central Criminal Court,” he said.
“And obviously there are thousands of cases that are dealt with every week.
“It’s obviously the prerogative of the media to decide which ones you want to highlight, but when you look at them across the board – and I do have a look at them across the board – I think the sentencing of the courts is consistent.”
He added: “You’re never going to be able to say that two cases are identical, but there is a level of consistency such that people will be aware that if somebody’s convicted of this offence, if they’ve pleaded not guilty, you’ve a general overview of the type of sentence that will be imposed.”
He said that the alternative would be to impose a US-style “very strict statutory mechanical scheme” whereby mandatory sentences are handed down based on certain criteria.
“I think that takes away from the discretion that’s required when it comes to the judiciary imposing sentences,” he said.
“It’s a complicated area, but I think the judiciary do it well.”
The Minister said strict child abuse image laws introduced in the late 1990s have been effective, leading to many convictions and serious sentences, and that the courts treat such offences “very seriously” while considering all relevant factors in sentencing.