Courts / Dublin / Report

Ruling that law on re-activation of sentences is unconstitutional impacts circuit court cases

Summary

In April 2016, the High Court ruled that Section 99 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006, which allows the Director of Public Prosecutions to bring cases of re‑activation of suspended sentences before the courts, is unconstitutional. The decision was made by Mr Justice Michael Moriarty, who cited concerns that the law creates unequal treatment of defendants, particularly regarding their rights of appeal. A State solicitor informed Judge Melanie Greally that the DPP was awaiting the judgment and that subsections 9 and 10 of the Act were now unconstitutional. Consequently, Judge Greally was instructed not to make an order in the two cases before her under Section 99 and to request that the two men attend the next sitting of the relevant District Court. She noted that she no longer has jurisdiction to remand a person but can only request that the accused attend the next court session.

Who, what, where, when and why

What: Report matter: Ruling that law on re-activation of sentences is unconstitutional impacts circuit court cases. Procedural stage: charge_or_pretrial

When:

• 2016-04-19 Publication

Why: This is usually because the accused has since come to garda attention, has not engaged with the Probation Services or has breached other conditions of the bond which they entered into to suspend part or all of the sentence. CNI source report

Places mentioned

Topics

Stage Charge Or Pretrial

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Read the original CNI report