This Report, which follows the publication of the Commission’s Consultation Paper on Mandatory Sentences,1 arises from a request made to the Commission by the then Attorney General under section 4(2)(c) of the Law Reform Commission Act 1975 which requested the Commission:
“to examine and conduct research and, if appropriate, recommend reforms in the law of the State, in relation to the circumstances in which it may be appropriate or beneficial to provide in legislation for mandatory sentences for offences.”

As the Commission noted in the Consultation Paper, the Attorney General’s request is clearly wide-ranging in scope. It requires the Commission, firstly, to determine the scope of the term “mandatory sentences.” In addition, the Commission is requested to consider mandatory sentences in general terms, although the Commission notes that existing legislation that already provides for mandatory sentences in connection with specific offences provides a valuable reference point for the analysis required in response to the request. The Commission’s third task is to assess whether provision in legislation for such sentences is “appropriate and beneficial.” In order to reach conclusions on that aspect of the Attorney General’s request, the Commission has examined the aims of criminal sanctions and relevant sentencing principles in the State. The Report therefore begins in Chapter 1 with a discussion of those aims and objectives before progressing to a detailed review of the existing legislation on mandatory sentences.