THE PRESIDING judge of the Central Criminal Court, Mr Justice Paul Carney, has suggested it may be time for the Court of Criminal Appeal and the Supreme Court to review the sentencing principles it uses in manslaughter cases. BARRY ROCHEreports
Addressing the Law Faculty at University College Cork last night, Mr Justice Carney said fatal stabbings "are in fact now out of control".
In a speech entitled The Role of the Victim in the Irish Criminal Process Part III, he quoted from an address by Joan Deane, one of the founding members of crime victims' group AdVic, delivered to the Judicial Studies Institute annual conference two years ago.
In that address, Ms Deane said: "Families of homicide victims and the majority of the public at large, feel that the sentences being handed down for manslaughter are frequently too lenient, with the penalties imposed not reflecting the severity of the crime."
In a carefully nuanced speech, the judge said several lengthy sentences for manslaughter imposed by the Central Criminal Court have been overturned by the Court of Criminal Appeal. He said he was "bound by considerations of fealty and obedience to follow the judgments of Mr Justice (Adrian) Hardiman which are binding upon me". "It is not for me to say that there should be a reassessment of the fundamental principles of sentencing in the light of what the courts are having to deal with today.
"That is for the Supreme Court and the Court of Criminal Appeal whom it is my obligation in the scheme of things as a trial judge to respectfully follow and obey." However, he thought he could "formulate what I believe Joan Deane would say were she the one who was giving this lecture.
"I believe that she would say that so far as wilful, violent, gratuitous homicides are concerned, the courts are not dealing with them with the severity expected by the majority of right-thinking members of society who are fearful for their safety.
"I believe she would then want to know why this is so. I do not have the answer to that question. I think it may have something to do with the rules being formulated in different times." He said manslaughter cases in the past "do not compare with the mindless viciousness of what is going through the courts today".
The judge said his colleague, Mr Justice Barry White had, in two cases involving stabbing, imposed sentences of 20 years and 14 years for manslaughter, explaining that his sentences were aimed at introducing a deterrent to others.
However, the Court of Criminal Appeal said Mr Justice White had erred in principle in both cases and reduced the sentences to eight years while the appeal court also criticised a 10-year sentence he imposed in a third manslaughter case.
Quoting from Mr Justice Hardiman in this third case, Mr Justice Carney pointed out that Mr Justice Hardiman ruled that Mr Justice White had ignored "the fact that under our present sentencing regime, sentences must be proportionate not only to the crime but to the individual offender".