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excess of €13,000) or a case where the offender by virtue of his/her physical or mental
characteristics wouldbe much more vulnerable while in custody.
A certain contractual exchange was also identified in the making of the suspended
sentence. In particular, the judges believed that they had the discretion to suspend the
sentence for a longer period than the actual custodial sentence as a price to be paid by the
offender in not having to serve any time in prison and to ensure compliance as a special
deterrent over a longer period of time. In this regard the judges were not in sympathywith
the general comments of Keane C.J. in Hogan’s case (supra) in the Court of Criminal
Appeal. The judges specifically referred to the necessity to test the bona fides of the
offender over a reasonable period of time in excess of the custodial period. This feature of
the sentence reinforces the viewthat the sentence is in essence a deterrent sentence. Some
of the judges referred to this as part of the price to be paid for suspension and it might
even include community service in some cases within the same sentence as a condition of
suspension, notwithstanding the irregular combination of community service with any
other sanction.
The part-suspended sentence has recently emerged in courts which exercise indictable
jurisdiction as the sentence of choice in place of the reviewable sentence which had been
abandoned as a sentencing practice following the Finn case. Unlike the wholly suspended
sentence, the part-suspended sentence requires the offender to enter into custody for an
initial period which is subject to remission of sentence. The Circuit Criminal Court utilises
the part-suspended sentence with great frequency as does the Central Criminal Court for
non-mandatory sentences. Previously, when the reviewable sentence was used, the courts
sought to stabilise an offender, particularly offenders with drug related problems, before
considering suspension of the sentence which usually followed. The part-suspended
sentence which has replaced the reviewable sentence subscribes to the same approach,
except that the entire sentence is pronounced at the one sitting of the court and thereafter
the supervision of the offender is a matter for the Probation Service or the Prison Service
or the Prosecution as the case may be. The part-suspended sentence differs from the
wholly suspended sentence in that a real punishment of imprisonment is imposed and
served bythe offender. Thereafter upon suspension, the punitive element of the sanction is
contingent and residual as it is with the whollysuspended sentence. The newregime under
Section 99 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006 allows the Prison Governor to seek a
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