Minister faces difficult task on prison overcrowding
No easy answers to emotive and complex issue
Statues depicting justice are often found carrying scales signifying the onus on the justice system to weigh up the various factors whilst adjudicating on a case.
Now, it appears that the Minister for Justice, Equality and Defence faces similar responsibilities.
The Irish Prison Services Annual Report for 2010 provided clear evidence of the increase in the numbers of prisoners in our jails, the pressures that this creates and the consequent high number of prisoners on temporary release due to insufficient prison spaces.
In 2010, there were 17,179 committals to prison, up 11.4% on the previous year. The number of those jailed for less than three months rose by 27.9% on the 2009 figure, from 5,750 to 7,356.
In general, this increase can be attributed to a rise in the numbers committed for non-payment of court ordered fines in 2010 - there were 6,683 such committals in 2010 compared to 4,806 in 2009.
However, it appears as if those on lesser sentences are being regularly released early from their sentences, never imprisoned at all, or given almost immediate temporary release. The figures showed that even though 87% of committals under sentence were for sentences of less than one year, only 15% of prisoners in custody on a given day were serving sentences of less than one year.
With clear evidence of overcrowding in prisons, Minister Shatter must confront the difficult task of facilitating structured alternatives to imprisonment for lesser offences by judges, rather than the ad hoc release system being operated currently by prisons.
In doing this, he must ensure that his Government and the judicial system is not seen to be "soft" on crime.
He must weigh up the rights of the victims, the punitive element of custodial sentences, the need for rehabilitation, the rights of societies to be protected and the rights of prisoners, who, although they have forfeited their right to freedom by their actions, have not forfeited their human rights to be imprisoned in proper conditions.
The Minister concerned, Alan Shatter, has already laid out his stall on the matter.
He has already enacted legislation which imposes an obligation on judges considering the imposition of a prison sentence of less than one year to first consider the imposition of community service as an alternative to imprisonment.
"As a result of this enactment there should be in the next 12 months a significant increase in convicted offenders undertaking community service and a reduction in numbers serving short-term prison sentences," the Minister predicted last week.
He also indicated that in the coming weeks, a pilot scheme to provide for the early temporary release of prisoners, with the requirement to do community service under supervision by The Probation Service, of appropriate prisoners who are considered to pose no threat to the community.
It is also intended to give new guidelines to The Parole Board for the application of such a scheme to long-term prisoners.
And whilst criminalising larger and larger sections of society is no solution to law and order issues, any opening of prison doors must be properly monitored and managed, particularly in relation to those coming to the end of lengthy sentences, in order to allay public concern.
Too many serious crimes have been committed by prisoners on temporary release and on questionable bail terms in recent years. The public must not suffer from early releases.
On the other hand, those who see imprisonment as a punitive measure of first resort should also consider that the average cost of an available, staffed prison space during the calendar year 2010 was €70,513.
Minister Shatter will need the wisdom of Solomon to balance all these factors.
