Fagan slams sentencing law again
March 30, 2006 Edition 1
Linda Daniels
Outgoing Inspecting Judge of Prisons Hannes Fagan has again slammed the minimum sentence legislation which he says "has been the prime cause of the awful conditions" in jails.
His criticism was contained in his final report tabled in parliament as head of the Judicial Inspectorate of Prisons, which is an independent statutory body.
While the report notes some successes in reducing overcrowding in jails, Fagan said that until the minimum sentence legislation was scrapped, the additional prisoners it caused would require mass releases "from time to time".
The report states that in the past, the blame for overcrowding in prisons could have been attributed to the growth in the number of awaiting-trial prisoners.
"The blames now lies with the minimum sentence legislation that came into effect on May 1 1998, for people being sent to prison for periods that are too long. The blame further lies with provisions of the Correctional Services Act of 1998 for people not being released timeously," the report says.
Mandatory minimum sentences ranging from 25, 20, 15, 10, seven and five years were introduced for offences such as murder, rape and certain categories of assault such as robbery, drug offences and dealing in and possession of firearms.
Judges and magistrates are compelled to impose those sentences unless substantial and compelling circumstances justify a lesser sentence. Many are not in favour of the law.
Fagan said the idea that longer prison sentences would deter people from crime "was quite wrong".
He said the only deterrent remained the knowledge of apprehension.
Fagan said the legislation was introduced as a temporary
measure to be renewed every two years and it would come to an end in April next year.
