Life Sentence in ireland

97i9y3941

Says in wikipedia and the citizens info that a life sentence in ireland is life,but i often heard other people say its a couple years before your consider for parole,do you actually get out?,its just no 1 will explain it in plain english what it means!

Thirdfox

I seem to recall our criminal prof. saying that life usually means around 12 years (with a chance of parol after 8).

Capital murder (killing a Garda) will give you a mandatory 40 year inprisonment (with no chance of parol).

But maybe my memory is fuzzy on the issue...

97i9y3941

so you do get out or what?,or your just on parole then go back to the slammer

Krieg

Thirdfox wrote: »

I seem to recall our criminal prof. saying that life usually means around 12 years

I believe you are correct, A mate of mine was doing law and he told me that life is 12 years (Not sure about parole), we were discussing that murdering someone in Ireland is kinda worth it considering prison time(If you really really wanted to kill someone), terrible I know.

GBX

Fred, you planning on doing something with a hope to getting out soon?

Thirdfox

I was pretty shocked when I was told that life meant only 12 years at most... I agree with the sentiments that most certainly murderers get off very lightly in our state. (Try 25-40 years in the US for life imprisonment)

97i9y3941

ye even in the uk they set tarrifs,like 20 years before your considered parole ,prob short here cause our prisons are filling up as it is

97i9y3941

no im not planning anything,just amused how they use the word life when it isnt,in austria its until u drop dead

dermot_sheehan

Life means you can be imprisoned for the rest of your natural life.

The criminal justice act 1951 however allows the minister for justice to release prisoners on licence. The minister would have recommendations from the parole board but they are not binding.

How long prisoners stay in is up to the minister, the previous minister stated as a matter of policy he would not consider applications for parole until the prisoner had served at least 14 years.

If a prisoner is paroled, he is let out on licence. The Minister can order him reincarcerated at any stage for any reason or no reason at all.

The Criminal Justice act 1990 restricts this power in the case of Capital murder or treason, the power to parole can not be exercised until 30 years had been served (40 year sentence but remission of up to ten years allowed).

Thirdfox

gabhain7 wrote: »

Life means you can be imprisoned for the rest of your natural life.

The criminal justice act 1951 however allows the minister for justice to release prisoners on licence. The minister would have recommendations from the parole board but they are not binding.

How long prisoners stay in is up to the minister, the previous minister stated as a matter of policy he would not consider applications for parole until the prisoner had served at least 14 years.

If a prisoner is paroled, he is let out on licence. The Minister can order him reincarcerated at any stage for any reason or no reason at all.

The Criminal Justice act 1990 restricts this power in the case of Capital murder or treason, the power to parole can not be exercised until 30 years had been served (40 year sentence but remission of up to ten years allowed).

Thanks for clearing that up.

97i9y3941

find it shocking myself the amount of people going to jail for life

johnnyskeleton

Fred83 wrote: »

find it shocking myself the amount of people going to jail for life

If you're looking for the boardsie for "most ridiculous bumped thread" then you have my vote.

civdef

What's the position if a minor is convicted of murder?

97i9y3941

from the citizens info site

In practice, children under the age of 12 are almost never prosecuted. It is policy to avoid the prosecution of children under the age of 18 unless the conditions for the Garda Diversion Programme have not been met or the offence is a particularly serious one. The Childrens Act 2001 provides for a range of alternative penalties for children who have offended

dermot_sheehan

It's a discretionary life sentence for children, the court can impose a sentence of up to life but its not mandatory which is the case for adults.

heyjude

Fred83 wrote: »

find it shocking myself the amount of people going to jail for life

Two different numbers come to mind, the high number of murderers being being sentenced to life in prison and the very very small number that actually stay in jail for life.

An Irish solution to an Irish problem, if every convicted murderer was actually jailed for the rest of their life(a true life sentence), then they'd have to build more jails, but the establishments' solution(much cheaper), is to call it a life sentence, then release the prisoner after perhaps 8 or 12 years, when the public has forgotten about the case. Its ironic, as since the early release/parole depends on a politician, it means that high profile murderers that would attract public anger at their release would typically therefore spend longer in jail for their crime than other murderers whose cases attracted less publicity.

The need to call this arrangement a 'life sentence' stems from the need to assure the public that the murderer is being dealt with, so that they don't take the law into their own hands, but frankly the difference in time spent in prison for some drug offences or serious armed robbery compared to the time served for murder, isn't that great, considering the difference in severity of the crime involved.

johnnyskeleton

heyjude wrote: »

Two different numbers come to mind, the high number of murderers being being sentenced to life in prison and the very very small number that actually stay in jail for life.

An Irish solution to an Irish problem, if every convicted murderer was actually jailed for the rest of their life(a true life sentence), then they'd have to build more jails, but the establishments' solution(much cheaper), is to call it a life sentence, then release the prisoner after perhaps 8 or 12 years, when the public has forgotten about the case. Its ironic, as since the early release/parole depends on a politician, it means that high profile murderers that would attract public anger at their release would typically therefore spend longer in jail for their crime than other murderers whose cases attracted less publicity.

The need to call this arrangement a 'life sentence' stems from the need to assure the public that the murderer is being dealt with, so that they don't take the law into their own hands, but frankly the difference in time spent in prison for some drug offences or serious armed robbery compared to the time served for murder, isn't that great, considering the difference in severity of the crime involved.

No they call it a life sentence because the minister has the power to detain the person for the rest of his or her natural life if they wish. They can release someone on parole and put them back in later for little or no reason.

Other than that though I'd agree with you, and would suggest we have something akin to the british system, whereby the sentencing judge specifies a minimum period to be served. At present, this can only be done in cases of capital murder.

Our man in Havana

Say a person is sentanced to life. He goes off to prison and keeps his head down and never applies for parole. Would he be released at some point or would he be kept in prison until he dies?

97i9y3941

Bond-007 wrote: »

Say a person is sentanced to life. He goes off to prison and keeps his head down and never applies for parole. Would he be released at some point or would he be kept in prison until he dies?

taken from citizens info

In deciding on the release of a prisoner with a life sentence, the Minister will always consider the advice and recommendations of the Parole Board. The Board, at present, initially reviews prisoners sentenced to life imprisonment at the seven-year stage of their sentence.

sunday world other day a story about a man who was sentenced to "life" back in 1992,but was granted parole recently and went off on a holiday to egypt

Kristopherus

Fred83 wrote: »

taken from citizens info


sunday world other day a story about a man who was sentenced to "life" back in 1992,but was granted parole recently and went off on a holiday to egypt

Mind you, if he offends out there, he will serve more than 15 yrs.As other posters have said, life can be life for some people. I thik the longest serving prisoners are the guy who killed Nurse Gargan in the Phoenix Park and the two blokes fro U.K. who murdered The Plunkett girl in Dublin/Wicklow and the Duffy girl in Mayo.

97i9y3941

there was a 20 year old sentence to life yesterday,very sad

Carawaystick

Bond-007 wrote: »

Say a person is sentanced to life. He goes off to prison and keeps his head down and never applies for parole. Would he be released at some point or would he be kept in prison until he dies?

I know of one murderer who has been in Shelton Abbey and I'd say his sentence is up, but he doesn't leave, he pretty much lives there and does gardening out and about to occupy his time. He's been known as the Gardener since I was in school, at least 20 years ago.

happyhappy

Fred83 wrote: »

there was a 20 year old sentence to life yesterday,very sad

sad for the 20 year old or sad for his victim??

97i9y3941

both parties,i know murder is murder,just its terrible what people do without realiseing the outcome of their actions,and others just pure evil think they can get away with it

BurnsCarpenter

Interesting. I was always under the impression that life corresponded to a set number of years.

I thought the Indo were way off with this headline, but I guess they're just being presumptuous (or they know something that I don't.)

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/courts/wifekiller-will-spend-rest-of-life-behind-bars-1691884.html

Quaver

BurnsCarpenter wrote: »

Interesting. I was always under the impression that life corresponded to a set number of years.

I thought the Indo were way off with this headline, but I guess they're just being presumptuous (or they know something that I don't.)

http://www.independent.ie/national-news/courts/wifekiller-will-spend-rest-of-life-behind-bars-1691884.html

It's just a sensationalist headline from the Indo. Life is 15 years (unless it's capital murder, then it's 40 years). He'll more than likely be out in 8-12.

97i9y3941

i think people seem to forget that the parole board is an independent body,it is entirely up to them who they let out on release or not,as stated earlier in this thread,life sentence is life,the justice minister has the power to order someone back in prison that is out on parole whilst serveing a life sentence,the most infamous parole release would probably be malcom mc arthur

Our man in Havana

But is he still not in Shelton Abbey?

97i9y3941

according to recent reports yes,hes usually let out for small few hours on xmas day

Ozeire

Going back to the original question .

Life does not really mean LIFE in Ireland

As alot of people have rightly said here, when someone is sentenced to life in Ireland they rarely spend the rest of their natural life in prison. The prisoners sentenced to Life gets their case rewired after 7 years have been served.

Exceptions to this are

Prisoners guilty of the following offences are not (as a general principle) eligible for review by the Parole Board:
• Murder or attempted murder committed within Ireland for a political motive, of the head of a foreign country, or of a member of the Government, or a diplomat from another country;
• Murder of a member of An Garda Síochána or the Irish Prison Service in the course of his or her duty (Section 3 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1990);
• Murder or attempted murder as set out in Section 6 of the Offences Against the State Act 1939 or Section 18 of that Act.

The Parole Board do not as many think, make the decision on wither a prisoners is released or not. They advise the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform of the prisoner's progress to date, the degree to which the prisoner has engaged with the various therapeutic services and how best to proceed with the future administration of the sentence. The Minister then decides on wither or not the prisoner should be released or continue to be imprisoned.

If you ask me, when a person takes another persons life, they in turn should forfeit their rights to a free life on this earth for as long as they live. The argument that you only meant to hurt someone not kill them shouldn’t make a difference. The person is dead and they aren’t ever coming back so you shouldn’t ever be free.

More info

97i9y3941

we do not have enough prisons unfortantly so they use this silly system for it,the uk has a better system,the judge has power to set tarriff to how long the prisoners must serve before they eglilable for parole