AT A time when vigorous efforts should be made to reduce the number of people being sent to jail for minor offences, because of the negative social consequences and the high financial cost, there has been a grave failure on behalf of Government and the judiciary. This failure to adopt new approaches to old problems has led to the emergence of grossly overcrowded and dangerous prisons, where drug abuse is rife and where the prospect of the rehabilitation of young offenders becomes ever more tenuous.
Some reforms have been introduced. But they do not address public expectations, prison overcrowding and an erratic sentencing regime in the courts. Twenty years ago, Ireland was identified as having the most unstructured and outdated sentencing system in the western world. Shortly afterwards, the Law Reform Commission suggested that non-statutory guidelines be issued to judges to ensure greater consistency. When nothing happened, public pressure for a more penal approach encouraged politicians to pass laws proposing minimum sentences. In their turn, some judges ignored this intrusion into their area of competence and continued to apply their discretion in a liberal manner. Now, the wheel has turned full circle. At District Court level there has been a large increase in the number of prison committals for minor offences, according to the latest annual report from the Irish Prison Service.
International experience has shown that a reliance on minimum sentences for serious crimes and the incarceration of people for minor offences are equally ineffective and very expensive. Rigid regimes that encourage the incarceration of citizens reflect traditional, failed approaches. Of course ruthless and violent criminals have to be locked up. They are a danger to society. But best international practice now favours rehabilitation; the use of community service orders and restrictions on movement as the primary responses to minor crime.
In Norway, prison is reserved for serious criminals. An offence that would normally attract less than six months in jail is dealt with through community service orders. In contrast, more than half of all Irish committal orders are for less than six months. Most of those come from the district courts and involve road traffic offences and the non-payment of fines. Given the dangerously overcrowded nature of our prisons and the shortage of money to provide modern facilities, urgent reform of the penal system should begin at source. That will also require a public education programme and greater oversight of community service programmes.
Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern regards prison as a place of punishment. So it is. Deprivation of personal liberty is an ultimate sanction. Conditions within prisons should, however, be humane and offer the inmates hope for a better future. Plans to double up prisoner occupation in cells at Thornton Hall when they become available in 2014, represents a backward step. A more enlightened sentencing policy is required. Most offenders should be required to make formal restitution through projects that benefit the community.