Criminal justice act, 1993

• Enactment Date: 03 April 1993
• Act Number: 6

Number 6 of 1993
CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACT, 1993
ARRANGEMENT OF SECTIONS
Section 1. Interpretation. 2. Review of certain sentences. 3. Appeal on point of law to Supreme Court. 4. Minor and consequential provisions. 5. Effect of certain offences on persons in respect of whom committed. 6. Compensation order. 7. Payment of compensation to District Court clerks for transmission, and attachment of earnings orders. 8. Suspension of compensation order pending appeal. 9. Effect of compensation order on civil proceedings. 10. Service of documents. 11. Amendment of Criminal Procedure Act, 1967. 12. Amendment of Punishment of Incest Act, 1908. 13. Repeals. 14. Short title and commencement.
Acts Referred to Children Act, 1908 1908, c. 67 Civil Liability Act, 1961 1961, No. 41 Criminal Damage Act, 1991 1991, No. 31 Criminal Evidence Act, 1992 1992, No. 12 Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) Act, 1962 1962, No. 12 Criminal Procedure Act, 1967 1967, No. 12 Enforcement of Court Orders Act, 1940 1940, No. 24 Family Law (Maintenance of Spouses and Children) Act, 1976 1976, No. 11 Lunacy (Ireland) Act, 1821 1821, c. 33 Probation of Offenders Act, 1907 1907, c. 30 Prosecution of Offences Act, 1974 1974, No. 22 Punishment of Incest Act, 1908 1908, c. 45 Road Traffic Act, 1961 1961, No. 24 Trial of Lunatics Act, 1883 1883, c. 38
Number 6 of 1993
CRIMINAL JUSTICE ACT, 1993
AN ACT TO ENABLE THE COURT OF CRIMINAL APPEAL TO REVIEW UNDULY LENIENT SENTENCES, TO MAKE OTHER PROVISION IN RELATION TO SENTENCING, TO PROVIDE FOR THE PAYMENT BY OFFENDERS OF COMPENSATION FOR INJURY OR LOSS RESULTING FROM THEIR OFFENCES, TO AMEND THE CRIMINAL PROCEDURE ACT, 1967 , AND THE PUNISHMENT OF INCEST ACT, 1908 , AND TO PROVIDE FOR CONNECTED MATTERS. [3rd April, 1993]
BE IT ENACTED BY THE OIREACHTAS AS FOLLOWS:
	Interpretation.	1.—(1) In this Act, unless the context otherwise requires—
	“compensation order” and “injured party” have the meanings assigned to them by section 6 ;
	“imprisonment” includes detention in Saint Patrick's Institution;
	“sentence” includes a sentence of imprisonment and any other order made by a court in dealing with a convicted person other than—
	(a) an order under section 17 of the Lunacy (Ireland) Act, 1821 , or section 2 (2) of the Trial of Lunatics Act, 1883, or
	(b) an order postponing sentence for the purpose of obtaining a medical or psychiatric report or a report by a probation officer;
	“sentencing court” means the court referred to in section 2 (1).
	(2) References in sections 2 (1) and 4 (1) to conviction of a person on indictment include references to conviction of a person after signing a plea of guilty and being sent forward for sentence under section 13 (2) (b) of the Criminal Procedure Act, 1967 .
	(3) This Act shall not apply to sentences imposed on persons convicted before its commencement.
	(4) In this Act—
	(a) a reference to a section is a reference to a section of this Act, unless it is indicated that reference to some other enactment is intended, and
	(b) a reference to a subsection or paragraph is a reference to the subsection or paragraph of the provision in which the reference occurs, unless it is indicated that reference to some other provision is intended.
	Review of certain sentences.	2.—(1) If it appears to the Director of Public Prosecutions that a sentence imposed by a court (in this Act referred to as the “sentencing court”) on conviction of a person on indictment was unduly lenient, he may apply to the Court of Criminal Appeal to review the sentence.
	(2) An application under this section shall be made, on notice given to the convicted person, within 28 days from the day on which the sentence was imposed.
	(3) On such an application, the Court may either—
	(a) quash the sentence and in place of it impose on the convicted person such sentence as it considers appropriate, being a sentence which could have been imposed on him by the sentencing court concerned, or
	(b) refuse the application.
	(4) Section 6 of the Prosecution of Offences Act, 1974 (which prohibits certain communications in relation to criminal proceedings), shall apply, with any necessary modifications, to communications made to the persons mentioned in that section for the purpose of influencing the making of a decision in relation to an application under this section as it applies to such communications made for the purpose of making a decision to withdraw or not to initiate criminal proceedings or any particular charge in criminal proceedings.
	Appeal on point of law to Supreme Court.	3.—(1) An appeal shall lie to the Supreme Court by the convicted person or the Director of Public Prosecutions from the determination of the Court of Criminal Appeal of an application under section 2 if that Court, the Attorney General or the Director of Public Prosecutions certifies that the determination involves a point of law of exceptional public importance and that it is desirable in the public interest that an appeal should be taken to the Supreme Court.
	(2) The Supreme Court may, for the purposes of its decision on such an appeal, either—
	(a) remit the case to the Court of Criminal Appeal to deal with, or
	(b) deal with it itself and for that purpose exercise any powers of that Court,
	and that Court or the Supreme Court, as may be appropriate, may, if necessary, quash any sentence imposed by the Court of Criminal Appeal and in place of it impose on the convicted person such sentence as it considers appropriate, being a sentence which could have been imposed on him by the sentencing court concerned.
	Minor and consequential provisions.	4.—(1) The registrar of a court which has imposed a sentence on conviction of a person on indictment shall—
	(a) give to the Director of Public Prosecutions, on request, a copy of any reports or other relevant documents that were considered by the court before it imposed the sentence, and
	(b) if the sentence has become the subject of an application under section 2 , give a copy of those documents to the Court of Criminal Appeal and the convicted person.
	(2) Where an application has been made to the Court of Criminal Appeal under section 2 or an appeal has been made to the Supreme Court under section 3 —
	(a) a legal aid (appeal) certificate or, as the case may be, a legal aid (Supreme Court) certificate shall be deemed, for the purposes of the Criminal Justice (Legal Aid) Act, 1962 , to have been granted in respect of the person whose sentence is the subject of the application or appeal, and
	(b) the person shall be entitled to free legal aid in the preparation and conduct of his case before the Court of Criminal Appeal or the Supreme Court and to have a solicitor and counsel assigned to him for that purpose in the manner prescribed by regulations under section 10 of that Act.
	Effect of certain offences on persons in respect of whom committed.	5.—(1) In determining the sentence to be imposed on a person for an offence to which this section applies, a court shall take into account, and may, where necessary, receive evidence or submissions concerning, any effect (whether long-term or otherwise) of the offence on the person in respect of whom the offence was committed.
	(2) This section applies to—
	(a) a sexual offence within the meaning of the Criminal Evidence Act, 1992 ,
	(b) an offence involving violence or the threat of violence to a person, and
	(c) an offence consisting of attempting or conspiring to commit, or aiding, abetting, counselling, procuring or inciting the commission of, an offence mentioned in paragraph (a) or (b).
	(3) Where a court is determining the sentence to be imposed on a person for an offence to which this section applies, the court shall, upon application by the person in respect of whom such offence was committed, hear the evidence of the person in respect of whom the offence was committed as to the effect of the offence on such person upon being requested to do so.
	Compensation order.	6.—(1) Subject to the provisions of this section, on conviction of any person of an offence, the court, instead of or in addition to dealing with him in any other way, may, unless it sees reason to the contrary, make (on application or otherwise) an order (in this Act referred to as a “compensation order”) requiring him to pay compensation in respect of any personal injury or loss resulting from that offence (or any other offence that is taken into consideration by the court in determining sentence) to any person (in this Act referred to as the “injured party”) who has suffered such injury or loss.
	(2) The compensation payable under a compensation order (including a compensation order made against a parent or guardian of the convicted person and notwithstanding, in such a case, any other statutory limitation as to amount) shall be of such amount (not exceeding, in the case of such an order made by the District Court, such amount as may stand prescribed for the time being by law as the limit of that Court's jurisdiction in tort) as the court considers appropriate, having regard to any evidence and to any representations that are made by or on behalf of the convicted person, the injured party or the prosecutor, and shall not exceed the amount of the damages that, in the opinion of the court, the injured party would be entitled to recover in a civil action against the convicted person in respect of the injury or loss concerned.
	(3) Where the commission of the offence by the convicted person involved the taking of property out of the possession of the injured...