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suspended sentence although it has been used consistently as a mechanism to reflect the
elements of conditionality and consent. However, when the issue of activation of the
suspended sentence arises, the status of the recognisance is peripheral to the main issue –
namelythe event of the breach of a condition. If the recognisance is used at all, clearlythe
continued existence of a recognisance is necessaryto allowthe Court to determine whether
the breach occurred during the period prescribed for the duration of the bond and the
period of suspension. On this point, it has been noted that if a recognisance is used in
structuring a suspended sentence, the period of the bond should be coterminus with the
period of suspension of the sentence. However, some commentators insist that activation
of the suspended sentence is inextricably bound up with the issue of enforceability of
recognisances. Rottman and Tormey in their advice to the Whitaker Committee in 1985
claimed that “a suspended sentence in the District Court, however has the defect that
recognisances and sureties are not enforceable” (1985:215). Beyond making this claim
they do not go into detail. At the time of the advice given to the Whitaker Committee,
the operative District Court Rules applicable were the 1948 Rules. Rule 82 of the District
Court Rules, 1948 sets out the procedure for estreatment of recognisances including
recognisances to keep the peace andto be of goodbehaviour. Rule 82(f) stated:
“The said Order may be enforced against the principal party in the same manner
as any other Order imposing a penalty in the case of an offence may be enforced
andmaybe enforcedagainst a suretybyWarrant of Distress”.
Similar enabling provisions are provided in the District Court Rules, 1997.
Perhaps a teleological analysis is best used to untangle the two issues under discussion here.
The intended result of anyapplication bythe Prosecution to activate a suspended sentence
is the imposition of the custodial sentence. Where a recognisance is used to construct the
suspended sentence, evidence of a breach of a condition contained within the recognisance
must be given, before the Court will order the revocation of the suspension and impose
the custodial sentence. However, the intended result in anyapplication bythe Prosecution
to estreat sureties attached to anyrecognisance is the extraction of a payment of moneyfor
breach of the bond itself. In a sense this latter procedure might be regarded as an
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