Immigrants in the criminal courts

• Author: David Riordan
• Position: Judge of the District Court
• Pages: 95-108

2007] Immigrants in the Criminal Courts

95

IMMIGRANTS IN THE CRIMINAL COURTS

JUDGE DAVID RIORDAN*

INTRODUCTION

At the outset I wish to point out that it is not the function of

the judiciary to make policy in the area of immigration. That

function is clearly the preserve of the legislative and executive

arms of government.

In preparing this paper I have set out to avoid repeating a

series of anecdotes which are, as we all know, the common

currency of Judges whenever they get together. I accept that

telling stories or relaying an anecdote of an experience can be a

useful method of communicating important information relating

to our work. However, anecdotes have a limited use in that they

cannot adequately map out the issues or set a fuller context for the

topic of this discussion, namely, immigrants in the criminal

courts.

Further, in discussing the issue of immigrants in the

criminal courts one needs to avoid the generalised complaint

about the lack of resources which might be deemed necessary to

deal with such an issue. Although sufficient resources are always

an issue when it comes to providing competent interpreters and

adequate court time to hear “immigrant” cases, such cases

invariably take longer to determine when compared with what

might be described as home-grown cases. I will return to this

element of the topic in a moment.

I. REVERSAL OF FORTUNES

The issues and problems which may be encountered when

dealing with immigrants in the criminal courts might best be

recognised by Magistrates and Judges by reflecting upon the

general Irish experience of emigration to Britain in the 1950s, and

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* Judge of the District Court. Article based on an address delivered at the

Cross Border Event, 2-3 March 2007, organised by the Judicial Studies Board

for Northern Ireland.