28th February 2024
A critical objective of IPRT’s work is to improve transparency about the role, purpose, and current practice in sentencing in Ireland.
To help achieve this, IPRT commissioned some short papers to provide clear and up-to-date information on sentencing policy and practice. Further resources will be added to this webpage over time.
A sentence doesn’t always mean a prison sentence (what is called a ‘custodial sentence’). In certain circumstances, there are other types of ‘sentences’ that can be imposed by a court as punishment (on conviction for a criminal offence).
These explainers set out what is meant by each of these types of ‘sentences’ in the criminal justice system.
What is the purpose of sentencing as part of a criminal justice system?
Sentencing is about a court choosing and then enforcing a punishment for a crime, but what does the criminal justice system, and society, hope to achieve through sentencing?
With these questions in mind, soon we will have short Briefing Papers outlining five principles of punishment that inform Irish sentencing practice.
Respect for rights in the penal system with prison as a last resort.