Judges will undergo specialist training this month to assist them in dealing with cases of sexual violence.
A one-day training seminar for all judges involved in hearing such cases in the criminal courts has been organised by the Judicial Council’s judicial studies committee.
It is part of a series of training initiatives put in place since the first formal training regime for judges was established in 2020.
Other initiatives planned for later this year include a seminar aimed at judges dealing with cases involving children as accused persons, defendants and witnesses.
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Since earlier this year, judges have also participated in information visits organised by the committee to prisons around the country, involving meetings with governors and prison staff.
Prior to the formal training regime, there were no training courses available, bar an informal “shadowing” of a serving judge for a few weeks, and then only if an experienced judge was available.
The Association of Judges of Ireland, the representative body for the country’s judges, was among those who had called for more formal training.
In line with the Judicial Council Act 2019, the judicial studies committee, comprising judges from all five court jurisdictions, was set up in February 2020 to improve training. The council’s remit includes to achieve “excellence in the performance of judicial functions” and public confidence in the judiciary and the administration of justice.
Since July 2020 every new judge has undergone ethics induction training and outside experts have been involved in giving “judgecraft” courses, addressing subjects including unconscious bias and improving the courtroom experience of vulnerable witnesses.
On their appointment, all judges must agree to take part in any training that is directed by the president of their court.
A Supreme Court judge, Mr Justice Peter Charleton, who has been director of judicial studies since October 2023, has organised this month’s seminar concerning the handling of sexual violence cases.
The judge, who will be among the speakers at the seminar, was formerly a well-known prosecutor for the Director of Public Prosecutions in many high-profile criminal cases.
He is an author of many books on criminal law and judgments concerning sentencing, including for sexual offences. As a judge of the Central Criminal Court, he introduced sentencing bands for rape cases and was involved in producing sentencing guidelines for a number of crimes. In a 2016 Supreme Court judgment, he outlined the nature of consent in law in the context of sexual offences.
The seminar will also be addressed by senior counsel Kathleen Leader, who has represented defendants in many sexual violence cases.
An account of the experience of the court process from the perspective of a victim of sexual violence will also be provided as part of the seminar.
Public controversy has erupted on several occasions about the handling by some judges of sexual violence cases, particularly in relation to sentencing, but there is insufficient data available against which to measure claims of a pattern of lenient sentencing.
According to the most recently published Courts Service annual report, for 2022, judges of the Central Criminal Court imposed 251 sentences for rape and attempted rape that year of which 99 were sentences of imprisonment, 151 were partially suspended and one was fully suspended.
Most sentences involved terms of more than five years. Twenty-two involved terms between two and five years, 114 were between five and 10 years and 115 were more than 10 years.
In relation to sexual offences, 468 sentences of imprisonment were imposed, 61 sentences were partially suspended and two were fully suspended. Periods of detention in juvenile detention centres were imposed against 12 defendants aged under 18.
Of the sentences imposed for sexual offences, 75 involved terms of up to two years, 249 involved periods between two and five years; 196 involved terms between five and 10 years and 11 involved terms exceeding 10 years.
Of 948 sexual offences dealt with by the Circuit Courts, 408 resulted in imprisonment, 255 involved bonds entered into by offenders, 90 involved suspended sentences, 30 involved probation orders, 89 were taken into consideration with other offences and 76 were dealt with by other means.
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