Barry Ward (Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Gabhaim buíochas leis an gCathaoirleach agus leis an gCeannaire. Ba mhaith liom, i dtosach báire, á rá go bhfuil mé chun leasú a dhéanamh agus a mholadh ar an Ord Gnó chun Bille nua a chur faoi bhráid an tSeanaid. Is é sin an Bille um Cheartas Coiriúil (Ógchiontóirí), 2023. I propose to the Leader and the House an amendment to the Order of Business on No. 22, the Criminal Justice (Juvenile Offenders) Bill 2023, which I would like to introduce today. This is a Bill I have drafted to deal with some gaps in sentencing and criminal justice law as they relate to children, in particular.

In this jurisdiction, we generally have quite a progressive regime under the Children Act 2001, which allows courts to specifically consider that they are sentencing a person who is a juvenile. That is the appropriate way because, in particular, at the beginning of a person’s life mistakes can be made and if certain punishments are handed down, it will end up in a lifetime of offending behaviour, which is something we want to avoid.

The Bill I am introducing does three things specifically. It addresses the mandatory life sentences that are applicable in respect of murder. If a person commits an offence for which he or she is ultimately convicted of murder before they are of the age of 18, but are convicted or sentenced after they are the age of 18, they are treated as an adult, notwithstanding the fact that they may have committed the offence as a child. Where a 15-year-old commits a murder today, if he or she is sentenced in three years' time, he or she is sentenced and is subject to a mandatory life sentence. That is an unnecessary and unseen fettering of judicial discretion and was never intended when the legislation for mandatory life sentences in respect of murder was made.

A second thing this Bill does is in respect of detention and supervision orders. At the moment the judges' hands are tied in this regard because they must have a half and half rule in respect of detention and supervision. It seems to me to be much more reasonable, particularly in the case of child offenders, that judicial discretion would allow them to decide what the appropriate length of the detention portion or the supervision portion of the sentence should be.

Third, this Bill deals with suspended sentences. The suspended sentences provision ,which was brought into law under section 99 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006, does not apply to juvenile offenders. That is a gap in the law and is something we can fix. I hope that the Leader will accept this amendment in respect of the Order of Business today.