Niall Ó Donnghaile (Sinn Fein) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an Aire. Mar an gcéanna le roinnt de na cainteoirí go dtí seo, tá mé sásta an Bille seo a fheiceáil ag teacht ós ár gcomhair inniu. I welcome the Minister and welcome the Bill, much of which is in concert with what I have been requesting during my short time in this House, as have many others going back even longer, as Senator McDowell said. I am happy to say that my party will be supporting the Bill through the various Stages although we will be proposing amendments on Committee Stage. I know the Minister will welcome and encourage those amendments, and participation by us and others.

The Bill on first reading appears to aim to promote excellence and best practice among judges and the functioning of the Judiciary. It put in place a system to deal with complaints about judges, which fall below the level necessary to trigger impeachment but are deemed not to be abiding by principles of best practice when administering the law of the State.

The judicial conduct committee, to be established under the Bill to examine complaints, will issue an annual report on its investigations. However, to the Bill's detriment, judges' names will not be published in that report unless they fail to co-operate with the committee or fail to complete a sanction imposed on them. I am unsure as to why such a provision would be in place. I ask the Minister to elaborate on that.

While I understand everybody is afforded the right to privacy as a citizen of this State, I fail to see a compelling argument as to why such a clause should be inserted in this Bill, something my party will seek to amend on Committee Stage. Under the Bill, inquiries will be held in private and it will be an offence, attracting a fine of up to €5,000 or a jail term of up to 12 months, to publish any document or evidence provided to the inquiry.

It is worth noting that the Legal Services Regulatory Authority will be holding inquiries into the conduct of barristers and solicitors in public and that no anonymity will be provided. It is not uncommon in other professions, so I do not understand why protections should be afforded to this one as some sort of privilege.

Public confidence in the Judiciary requires not only accountability for misconduct, but also transparency. However, that is not achieved under the legislation currently. Judges who behave improperly should be named. Judges who intend to act properly into the future should have nothing to fear from the inclusion of a measure to publicly name those who act improperly.

My colleague and Sinn Féin justice spokesperson in the last Dáil, Senator Mac Lochlainn, published legislation on 8 October 2015 that sought to introduce a sentencing council in this State. The Senator put months of work into that comprehensive legislation. We plan to introduce many of its provisions on Committee Stage as we feel it would further strengthen the Bill and would complement it.

A sentencing council already operates in England and Wales and provides sentencing guidelines to the Judiciary. This has ensured that sentences handed out for criminal offences in their courts are consistent and accountable across the board. Concern has arisen over recent years about the perceived inconsistency of sentencing in our courts. Of particular concern and controversy have been some sentences handed out for sexual offences, an issue that has again arisen only today after a very small sentence administered to a prominent journalist for a very grave and sickening crime.

Senator Mac Lochlainn has examined the model of the Sentencing Council for England and Wales for some time. We believe that this model of consistency and accountability should be introduced in this State. A key strength of the sentencing council model is that it involves a range of key stakeholders such as victim support groups, academics, senior police officers, senior parole officers and the wider public in the process of establishing sentencing guidelines for the Judiciary. As members of the Judiciary are the majority members of the Sentencing Council for England and Wales and a senior member of the Judiciary chairs the council, they are still central to the process.

However, the sentencing guidelines issued ensure that the Judiciary must stick to the range provided for the category of offence before them. They must also clearly indicate why they have sentenced an offender within that range, taking into consideration the impact on the victim and the blameworthiness of the offender. This ensures consistency and accountability across the court system and across the State.

Similar to the Sentencing Council for England and Wales, the sentencing council we are proposing for this State would develop sentencing guidelines and monitor their use, and assess the impact of guidelines on sentencing practice. It may also be required to consider the impact of policy and legislative proposals relating to sentencing when requested by the Government, and promote awareness among the public regarding the realities of sentencing and publishing information regarding sentencing practice in our court system.

We must consider the impact of sentencing decisions on victims and monitor the application of the guidelines to better predict the effect of them. We need to play a greater part in promoting understanding of and increasing public confidence in sentencing and the criminal justice system overall.

I again reiterate my party's support for the Bill. I commend Senator Mac Lochlainn on his work on our amendment. I thank the Minister for making this Bill a priority and bringing it before us.