2017-07-31
Man loses challenge to constitutionality of mandatory minimum firearms sentences
Stage: Appeal
Plea: Guilty
Outcome: Ellis' barrister, Caroline Biggs SC, submitted that the elimination or restriction of the courts' sentencing discretion offends the notion of the separation of powers and also conflicts with the requirement that sentences imposed should be proportionate. She said the constitutional dimension was brought into focus by the fact Ellis originally received a suspended sentence, considered just and proportionate by the sentencing judge in the Circuit Court at the time, and that the courts were in effect compelled by the Oireachtas to impose an actual sentence of a specified minimum duration.