Debate contribution: Sentencing Practices in Northern Ireland

Debate contribution by Miss Deirdre Hargey on 23 June 2025.

MLA

Miss Deirdre Hargey

Party at the time

Sinn Féin

Date

23 June 2025

Type

Debate contribution

Business

Private Members' Business

Heading

Sentencing Practices in Northern Ireland

Assembly identifier

Official Report component 5046309

Read the official Assembly record

Text

Thank you, Mr Deputy Speaker. I place on record my thanks to the Members for tabling the motion. These are important issues. They are worthy of discussion and debate, and I am sure that we will have plenty of that when the Minister introduces the Bill, next year. The Lady Chief Justice recently said:

"Sentencing is critical to ... the rule of law and maintaining society’s confidence in its justice system."

Sentencing, including sentencing reform, is at a critical point in public safety, justice and human rights. We must ensure that we have a system that is open and accessible, is understood by the broader public and commands their confidence. We know that there have been soundings recently about opening up courts — indeed, the Minister is consulting on that — to make them more accessible and more easily understood, and looking at introducing some broadcasting. That is welcome, but appropriate safeguards for victims and witnesses must be included and due process must be allowed to run its course. Some recent cases have had an impact on public confidence. We must learn from them. One case involved more than 40 incidents of sexual exploitation and trafficking. I contacted the Public Prosecution Service (PPS) about the sentence that was handed down. That case has been referred to the Court of Appeal. The proposer of the motion referred to the recent sentence that was handed down to a known loyalist. The PPS has said that it is reviewing that sentence. Although those examples show that there is a mechanism to review, they also pose the question of whether the original sentences were appropriate in the first place. There are also questions about the impact on public confidence and victims, where they are involved. Many members of the public and Members of the House have questioned why the minimum sentence was not given to Irvine in the recent case, as it was to his co-accused. There are also questions about why the charges for possessing firearms were not brought under terrorist offences, given that he was arrested under terrorism legislation by the PSNI's anti-terrorism unit. That case and others clearly show the urgent need to look at how character references are being used and assessed. We need to look at best practice around the issue in other jurisdictions, such as the South of Ireland, where, if you provide a character reference, you must appear in person under oath. We know that our justice system is under huge pressure, with delays in case progression and disposals, increases in our prison population, unacceptable levels of reoffending, victims not always feeling supported or informed by the system and a disproportionate impact on vulnerable groups. A recent Criminal Justice Inspection (CJINI) report highlighted the fact that outcomes remain static. Despite a number of strategies and policies, impactful change has been slow. Recent figures published by NISRA on reoffending rates show that almost 80% of cases are classed as repeat offending. That is on top of the already high number of people in our prison system, with an increased population, doubling up in cells, and more complex cases now presenting, particularly around substance use and poor mental health. The Justice Committee has been looking at those areas over the past year. We held a joint Committee session a few months ago with the Health Committee. We are calling for more joined-up working and planning from both Departments to tackle those issues. They need to use their resources better and more collaboratively in order to achieve better outcomes in those areas. It is for those reasons that we tabled our amendment. Although we must ensure that there is an appropriate sentencing framework in place that is clear and codified and which protects the public, we support the establishment of a sentencing council, such as that developed in the South of Ireland, where Sinn Féin supported the introduction of sentencing guidelines. We must also ensure that we focus on comprehensive rehabilitation and resettlement programmes. We cannot just continue to do what we are doing, because what we are doing is not working. That is played out in the statistics that NISRA recently published. We want to ensure that we increase public safety. Obviously, we must deter people from committing crime and intervene at an earlier stage to look at the causes of why people commit crime or why they reoffend. I cannot underscore enough that over 70% of crime involves reoffending. It is not good enough to say that we need to put those people back inside; we need to understand the drivers and causes of reoffending so that we can prevent those figures from materialising in the first place. We know that relying on sentences is not effective in reducing reoffending. We must look at the stats on reoffending and say that something needs to change. We need to find a balance between deterrence and rehabilitation, with public safety always being a key driver and while upholding our duties in a manner that is compliant with human rights. It is essential that we reform our sentencing framework. Obviously we need to look at the mitigators and the aggravating factors, particularly when it comes to serious offences involving gender-based violence, racism and sectarianism. We must ensure that the public understands and is given confidence. That is essential to ensuring that the public understands the sentences that are handed out and the associated mitigating and aggravating factors. We must also ensure that sentencing is victim-centred and that we look at the impacts on victims. Of course, while we do that, we also need to look at disparities and consistency in sentencing — as Doug said, the Minister will bring a sentencing reform Bill to the Assembly next year. A sentencing council would help with laying that out. We need to look at community confidence. We need to consider children and young people. We are looking at some of those considerations in the current Justice Bill. We also need to look at enhanced restorative justice practice and approaches to look at mitigation and actually stopping crime — preventing it from occurring in the first place. As I said, we also need to have a specific sentencing framework. We are due to receive an aggravating model in relation to the hate crime element of that in the sentencing Bill next year. We must ensure that we develop evidence-based change, looking at the socio-economic factors. The stats give a clear picture and a clear story of who finds themselves in the criminal justice system and who has been impacted on by crime and offences. We need to get below the data to really understand that and, importantly, to mitigate or stop it, as well as to increase public safety and public confidence in the application of the rule of law and in our wider justice system. I commend the motion and the Sinn Féin amendment.

1,151 words. Text as published by the Northern Ireland Assembly.

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