Report on Mandatory Sentences - Law Reform Commission

she be released. 192 This direction may only be given where the Commissioners are satisfied that it is no
longer necessary for the protection of the public from serious harm that the offender should be
confined. 193 Remission may not be granted under the prison rules to an offender sentenced under Article
13. 194
4.99 The fact that Article 13 bears a remarkable resemblance to section 225 of the Criminal Justice
Act 2003 (which, as discussed at paragraph 2.196, was repealed in 2012) may be explained by reference
to the findings of the 2000 Review of the Sentencing Framework in Northern Ireland. The Review
referred to the fact that section 225 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003 had introduced extended and
indeterminate public protection sentences for offenders convicted of specified sexual or violent offences
who were assessed as dangerous by the sentencing court. 195 It observed, however, that the 2003 Act did
not apply to Northern Ireland and that there remained as a result a gap in Northern Irish law in respect of
such offenders:
“The Review identified a gap in provision in Northern Ireland for the management of dangerous,
violent and sexual offenders who continue to pose a risk to the public at their automatic release
date. Under existing provision it is only where offenders have been given a mandatory or
discretionary life sentence that assessment of the risk they pose to the public enables their
continued detention in custody. Consultation respondents considered this an important public
protection issue which needed to be addressed. Therefore we now introduce indeterminate and
extended custodial sentences in Northern Ireland.” 196
4.100 Although Article 13 was inspired by section 225 of the Criminal Justice Act 2003, it would appear
that the difficulties associated with the IPP sentence in England and Wales have not materialised in the
context of the Northern Irish legislation. In July 2012, Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland
published its <strong>Report</strong> on The Management of Life and Indeterminate Sentence Prisoners in Northern
Ireland. This <strong>Report</strong> found that “the legislative basis for managing indeterminate sentenced prisoners in
Northern Ireland was good, and had been informed by serious pitfalls that arose in England and
Wales.” 197 The Commission observes that one apparent difference between the two sentencing models
is that the regime which operates in Northern Ireland requires the court to first consider whether the
imposition of an “extended custodial sentence” (discussed below) would be sufficient to protect the public
from serious harm. Where this is the case, an indeterminate custodial sentence may not be imposed.
4.101 Article 14 of the Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 2008 requires the imposition of an
“extended custodial sentence” for a “specified violent offence” 198 or “specified sexual offence”. 199 This
obligation applies where the sentencing court is of the opinion that: (i) there is a significant risk to
members of the public of serious harm occasioned by the commission by the offender of further specified
offences, and (ii) in the event that the specified offence is a “serious offence”, the court is not required by
Article 13 to impose a life sentence or an indeterminate custodial sentence. 200
4.102 Under Article 14, an “extended custodial sentence” is a sentence of imprisonment (or detention,
in the case of an offender under the age of 21 years) which is equal to the aggregate of: (a) the
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
Article 18(3) of the Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 2008.
Article 18(4) of the Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 2008.
Article 13(7) of the Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 2008.
Proposed Draft Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 2007 - Equality Screening Forms (Northern Ireland
Office, 2007) at 7.
Ibid at 8.
The Management of Life and Indeterminate Sentence Prisoners in Northern Ireland (Criminal Justice
Inspection Northern Ireland, 2012) at vi.
A “specified violent offence” is an offence listed in Part 1 of Schedule 2 to the Order.
A “specified sexual offence” is an offence listed in Part 2 of Schedule 2 to the Order.
Article 14(1) of the Criminal Justice (Northern Ireland) Order 2008.
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