Over 150 jail sentences of ten years or more for rape and sexual assault were handed down by the courts in 2021, Justice Minister Simon Harris has revealed."
He confirmed 110 sentences of more than ten years for rape and 51 sentences of more than ten years for sexual assault were handed down.
He said the figures applied to 2021 and are the most up to date statistics available from the court service at the moment. The data for 2022 has not been released yet.
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The Minister stated: "The Government is committed to combating all forms of domestic and gender based violence. This includes both supporting those who are victims of these terrible crimes and having in place the most appropriate legislative provisions so as to hold perpetrators to account.
"When it comes to cases of sexual assault, the most serious offence rape carries a sentence of up to life imprisonment.
"Information from the Court Service show that in 2021 - the most recent year that statistics have been completed for - there were 110 sentences of more than 10 years handed down for rape convictions and 51 sentences of more than 10 years for sexual offences convictions.
"In cases of domestic violence that where offences involving physical or sexual violence are committed in the context of a marriage, civil partnership or an intimate and committed relationship, that fact shall be an aggravating factor at sentencing."
Mr Harris announced he now plans to bring in new standalone offences of stalking and non-fatal strangulation which he hopes will encourage more victims to come forward and seek the justice they deserve.
He will also be doubling the maximum sentence for assault causing harm, one of the most common crimes committed in domestic violence incidents, from five to ten years.
The Department of Justice is also carrying out a review of all mandatory minimum sentences for other offences and it will be presented to the Oireachtas soon.
Mr Harris stated; " The standard approach with regard to sentencing provisions in criminal legislation is for the Oireachtas to specify the criminal offence concerned and the maximum penalty that may be imposed on persons found guilty of the offence.
"It is then a matter for the sentencing Judge to consider the penalty that should be administered in individual cases, having regard to all of the facts and circumstances involved.
"The court is required to impose a sentence which is proportionate not only to the crime but also to the individual offender in that process, identifying where on the sentencing range the particular case should lie and then applying any mitigating factors which may be present."
The Minister was responding to demands by Green TD Patrick Costello for a review of judicial sentencing and especially minimum sentences for domestic violence and sexual abuse cases.
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