Lynn Ruane (Independent) | Oireachtas source

I thank the Minister of State for being here this afternoon. I welcome the Bill and the changes that are being made to it in the Seanad. The provisions on sentencing guidelines, education and training and the introduction of disciplinary procedures are most welcome.

The Bill is a welcome attempt by Government to modernise and improve the Judiciary and how it operates. It allows for the standardisation of experiences in order that there will be some form of continuity between courts and judges for people with similar legal cases and so that judges will receive standardised education and training sessions. Over time, this will start to build up further institutional continuity in sentencing.

While we want judges to have discretion in how they decide cases, we also want to ensure that the Irish legal system handles near-identical cases with some degree of similarity and that individual judges and courts do not hand out vastly different sentences. We are lucky to have high public confidence in our Judiciary and that needs to be maintained. However, the fact is that judges are human too. They may be charged with interpreting our laws and the Constitution but they are normal people and the fact is that people are a product of their environment, background and how they were brought up. Their experiences all come together to shape their perspectives on the law, life, society and other people too. When judges make judgments on a case or hand down a sentence they consciously use their years of experience of legal scholarship. However, unconscious factors will also come into play. It will not be intentional but arises from their unique life experiences. Every judge will see the same case in a slightly different way.

Amendment No. 19 seeks to ensure that judges would be regularly educated and trained on the impact of unconscious bias in their decisions and sentencing so that they know to be aware of it and take it into account. This is not to say that judges are biased in any way. It simply seeks to recognise the reality that no judge is the same.

As we progress a Bill that is designed to bring continuity of experience to our judicial system, this is a piece of the puzzle. Legal training and the continued development of our Judiciary must expand to ensure we continuously address the impact of unconscious bias on stereotyping and sentencing. We must look into the fact that it manifests itself in how legal proceedings can unfold.

I spent a good deal of time in and out of courts during the past 20 years as someone in the court as a young offender and later as someone who supported many people in addiction and homelessness in the court system. I have sat, witnessed and watched how different judges use different language and impose different sentences. I have seen different opportunities and chances, especially for people in addiction. I have said this before in the House. When one of the participants on our addiction programmes was before the court in Kilmainham, we used to hope for the female judge - I think her name was Catherine. I think she has passed away now but we hoped she would be in position because she had a unique understanding of addiction and the implications of a person's environment. We took the view that she was fair in her assessment of the individual before her because she had training or personal experience of someone living in addiction. That had a major and positive impact on the people who were before her within the court system.

As humans, we make quick assessments and we have preconceived ideas. It happens so quickly and it is not something we do consciously. We need to continuously challenge that to create a far fairer system. In that way, people from minority backgrounds might take the view that they are stereotyped less and that court proceedings are more fair and equal. It would be positive for judges to be able to constantly challenge unconscious bias and become aware of it within themselves. I hope the Minister of State can support the amendment.

I support the Government and Labour Party amendments in the section on jury conduct.