Research commissioned by the Judicial Council has found that District Court judges feel under pressure to progress cases, due to concerns about the impact of delays on the right to a fair trial.

The research recommends the development of specific sentencing guidelines for the District Court.

It has also calls for a programme of sentencing information, training, and guidance on domestic-violence cases for District Court judges.

The research, commissioned by the Judicial Council’s Sentencing Guidelines and Information Committee (SGIC), was conducted by Dr Niamh Maguire of the South-East Technological University.

The council says that the SGIC has adopted the key recommendations outlined in a draft report and will publish the full report when it is finalised.

Caseload pressure

The report says that large caseloads and long court lists are reducing the time and flexibility available to District Court judges to consider the appropriate sentences in cases.

“Pressure to progress the list is an important overarching consideration that judges feel compelled to factor into their decisions around sentencing in order to avoid delays, and the impact that this might have on the defendants’ right to a fair trial,” it states.

Judges taking part in the study also cited the difficulty of accessing timely and accurate information that they considered essential for making sentencing decisions.

The report also refers to “a very limited programme of judicial induction, training, and continued professional development in the area of sentencing”.

“The introduction of a bespoke system of support that caters specifically for the needs of District Court judges would significantly enhance their ability to overcome many of the challenges they currently face when sentencing in the busiest and most diverse court in the Irish legal system,” the report states.

Fines system not fit for purpose

The research also found a consensus among judges that the system for the enforcement of fines was not fit for purpose.

“The underlying problem from a judicial perspective appears to be the low probability that the fines imposed will ever be paid,” it says.

The report also finds that District Court judges have “a low level of awareness” of the range of community sanctions at their disposal, and experience other obstacles limiting their use of community sanctions – including the lack of availability.

It calls for information on the various community sanctions overseen by the Probation Service – and their success rates – to be provided to judges.

Different approaches

On domestic violence, the study found different approaches to the sentencing of breaches of domestic-violence orders (section 33 offences) in the District Court, with some judges taking a “family-law-solutions" approach, rather than one based purely on ordinary sentencing principles.

“The SGIC can support the adoption of a more coherent and uniform approach to the sentencing of domestic-violence offences under section 33 by the provision of a bespoke programme of sentencing information, guidance, and training relevant to the section 33 types of cases that typically appear in the District Court,” the report says.

It adds that the majority of judges interviewed would welcome such guidance and view its absence as “a gap in provision that should be filled”.

The study makes several more detailed recommendations on the type of guidance that judges should receive on such cases – including training on how to identify different forms of abuse and their respective impacts on victims/survivors and their children.