Overcrowding in Irish prisons is at crisis levels. There has been a marked increase in violence in Irish prisons and a particularly worrying increase in deaths in Prison Service custody. Imprisonment in Ireland is now characterised by crowded and undignified conditions and interruptions to educational and psychological interventions. These conditions are a violation of the human rights and constitutional rights of people in prison and they reflect a prison environment that is more punitive and less rehabilitative than it is designed to be.
In this context, do people who are being given custodial sentences deserve a discount on their sentences because the conditions are worse than can be reasonably anticipated? This is an argument advanced by Ireland’s leading expert on Sentencing Law, Professor Tom O’Malley SC, in his new book Sentencing: A Modern Introduction. Prof. O’Malley cites the discounted sentences given by English judges during the height of the Covid-19 restrictions as an example Irish judges could follow.
Lower sentences for individuals who are likely to have a disproportionately difficult time in prison relative to the general population (e.g., migrants with limited English or connections in the country, former gardaí, etc.) are common and well established in Irish case law. If arguments for a discount based on the conditions were made by lawyers and accepted by judges it would represent an implicit judicial critique of Ireland’s inadequate prison conditions and would have a de-carceral impact, which could help alleviate overcrowding.
Join the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) and the Bar Council of Ireland on Wednesday, 18 June for the latest in our events series where we will explore these questions.
Saoirse Brady, Executive Director, Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT), will provide an overview of prison conditions and their impact on human rights compliance and the welfare, safety and rehabilitation of people in prison. She will also give the IPRT’s perspective on the overcrowding crisis.
Professor Tom O’Malley SC will advance the arguments he set out in his book and will address attendees on the importance of making submissions to sentencing judges that encourage them to reflect on the impact of the overcrowded prison conditions on the person they are sentencing.
The event will be chaired by Seán Egan, ICCL’s Procedural Rights Fellow, and there will be an opportunity for attendees to take part in a Q&A with all speakers.
The event is taking place in the Gaffney Room in the Distillery Building on Wednesday, 18 June. It will start at 4.30pm and finish at 6pm. All attendees are invited to join us in the Sheds afterwards for refreshments.
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