The Courts Service annual report 2022 was published on 27 September 2023.1 While the report presented data for all criminal cases arising within the Irish justice system between January and December 2022, this article only reports on statistics of prosecutions for drug offences.1 The data provided are for overall drug law offences. The Courts Service in Ireland does not distinguish between the different supply offences and possession/use offences (Courts Service, personal communication, 2017).

District Court

In most cases, prosecutions for drug offences are carried out in the District Court, which is the lowest court in the Irish legal system. The District Court, exercising its criminal jurisdiction, deals with four types of offences: summary offences, indictable offences tried summarily, some indictable offences, and indictable offences not tried summarily. When the District Court hears a criminal case, the judge sits without a jury. The District Court judge decides the issues of fact and whether to convict. They also determine the sentence. In the case of most indictable offences that must be tried by a judge sitting with a jury, the District Court may impose a sentence where the accused pleads guilty, provided that the Director of Public Prosecutions consents and the judge accepts the guilty plea. Otherwise, the accused is sent forward to the Circuit Court on their signed guilty plea for sentencing. The District Court has a limit on the sentence it may impose in respect of a single criminal charge, which is 12 months’ imprisonment.2 Overall, 21,393 orders were made in relation to drug offences in 2022 – involving 17,073 defendants – which represents a 14% decrease since 2021 (n=19909) (see Tables 1 and 2).1

Juvenile crime

The age of criminal responsibility in Ireland is 12 years in line with Section 52 of the Children Act 2001, as amended by Section 129 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006.3 Generally, children who come before the courts are aged between 15 and 17 years. The total number of orders that were made in respect of drug offences in the Children Court in 2022 was 462 (see Table 3), which represented a 5% decrease, approximately, since 2021 (n=488).1 In 2022, young offenders received a range of punishments: imprisoned or detained (n=8), community service (n=5) or sentenced to probation (n=114). The number of young people placed on probation in 2022 (n=114) was nearly 7% lower than the 2021 figure (n=122).1 

Table 1: Number of sentences for drug offences in the District Court, 2022

Source: Courts Service (2023)1

* There may be more than one offence brought against a defendant.

Table 2: Number of summary and indictable offences: outcomes in the District Court, 2022

Source: Courts Service (2023)1

Dis. = dismiss; S/O = strike out; TIC = taken into consideration; Disq. = disqualified; C/S = community service; Prob. = probation; Imp/Det. = imprisonment or detention; Susp. = suspended sentence.

Table 3: Number of juvenile crime outcomes, 2022

Source: Courts Service (2023)1

Dis. = dismiss; S/O = strike out; TIC = taken into consideration; Disq. = disqualified; C/S = community service; Prob. = probation; Imp/Det. = imprisonment or detention; Susp. = suspended sentence. 

Table 4: Number of sentences for drug offences in the Circuit Court, 2022

Source: Courts Service (2023)1

* There may be more than one offence brought against a defendant.

Guilty = guilty pleas; NP = nolle prosequi; TIC = taken into consideration; Quash = quash return for trial; Dec. = accused deceased. 

Table 5: Number of offence outcomes following conviction in the Circuit Court, 2022

Source: Courts Service (2023)1

TIC = taken into consideration; Disq. = disqualified; C/S = community service; Prob. = probation; Imp/Det. = imprisonment or detention; Susp. = suspended sentence. 

Table 6: Number of appeals from the District Court, 2022

Source: Courts Service (2023)1

Off. = offences; Def. = defendants; Aff. = affirmed; Rev. = reversed; S/O = struck out; S/O N/A = struck out no appearance. 

Table 7: Summary of number of resolved appeals, 2022

Source: Courts Service (2023)1

DPP = Director of Public Prosecutions. 

Circuit Court

The Circuit Court heard cases for 813 defendants that involved 3,151 drug offences in 2022. There were 2,551 guilty pleas, which represented nearly a 17% increase from 2021 (n=2181). Of the cases that went to trial, 25 resulted in convictions and 18 resulted in acquittals (see Table 4). Trials resulted in 362 imprisonments/detentions and 446 suspended sentences (see Table 5).1

Appeals from the District Court

In 2022, some 489 appeals from the District Court, representing 977 offences, were dealt with in the Circuit Court.1 Appeals and offences in 2022 were approximately 15% and 9%, respectively, lower than that reported in 2021 (appeals n=574; offences n=1075). Table 6 shows a breakdown of resolved offences.

Court of Appeal

Overall, the number of appeals that were lodged from the Circuit Criminal Court for drug/misuse of drugs offences was more than 27% higher in 2022 (n=144) when compared with 2021 (n=113). Overall, 122 appeals that originated in the Circuit Criminal Court were resolved in 2022.1 Table 7 indicates that most appeals resolved were for sentence severity (n=89), followed by sentence leniency (n=23), conviction and sentence (n=5), and conviction (n=5).

Conclusion

The report was commended by the Chief Justice and chairperson of the Courts Service Board, Mr Justice Donal O’Donnell. He described efforts by the Courts Service in 2022 as one of ‘innovation, diligence and continued efforts’ as they worked towards making the modernisation of the Courts a reality (p. 5).1

1    Courts Service (2023) Courts Service annual report 2022. Dublin: Courts Service. Available from: https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/39636/

2    Courts Service (2013) Courts Service annual report 2012. Dublin: Courts Service. Available from: https://www.drugsandalcohol.ie/20180/

3    Office of the Attorney General (2006) Criminal Justice Act 2006. Dublin: Irish Statute Book. Available from:
https://www.irishstatutebook.ie/eli/2006/act/26/section/129/enacted/en/html