1.

On the 14th of March I attended the district court on Anglesey street

for a summary jurisdiction. I arrived early so the courtroom was not
open yet. I saw many people waiting anxiously outside. As the
solicitors and guards started appearing I noticed everyone getting
more anxious. The courtroom was now open and everyone entered
slowly. This was my first time being present in a courtroom and I did
not know what to expect. Before the judge entered people were all
over the place and it was hard to decipher who was who. When
everyone was sat It was a lot clearer and I started to figure out
everyone’s roles. I found a few of the defendants very disrespectful as
they would keep chatting to each other even after being told to stop.
The judge had enough of this behaviour and kicked two defendants
out of the courtroom and told them not to come back until they are
called. The mood was very tense in the courtroom after this. I was
shocked that there was fourteen guards present in the courtroom and I
wondered what the purpose of this was. As the day went on I realised
that this was because they all had a statement to give. I noticed a
solicitor motioning for his client to take off his cap and I wondered
was this just for courtesy reasons or was it a rule in the courtroom.
The defendants that were in jail were seen over video call, some were
present in the courtroom and a few just didn’t show up. These cases
were mostly for theft, assault and drugs. Majority of the defendants
were given fines, lowest being €100 and highest being €300. The
solicitors asked for some cases to be pushed back to a later date and
the judge granted this. 

 I will be accompanying my friend who has been called as a witness for a criminal
case in the district court. I have generated a set of notes so she is more aware of
what to expect. 
When you enter the courthouse there will be a screen to tell you what cases are on
in each courtroom and what time they will begin. You can enter the courtroom
fifteen minutes before the judge will come. It will start at 10:30am sharp and will
break for lunch. It will then continue after lunch until about 4pm. Picture the
courtroom as if you are standing at the back looking over it. You will see the judge
on the high podium at the back, just below him/her will be the registrar, in front of
them there will be a large table with all the solicitors. The accused will be on the
right hand side of the room accompanied by a guard/s and the jury will be on the
left hand side. There will also be members of the public sitting by the entry door.
These could be family member, students or reporters. When you are called to the
stand you will sit in a small box to the right hand side of the registrar. 

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the function of criminal law is an area of public law in which the individual is
prosecuted by the state. 

The sentencing procedure typically has four main objectives: retribution,

rehabilitation, deterrence, and incapacitation. Retribution is the concept of pursuing
punishment associated with a crime in the field of criminal justice. Retribution's
main objective is to punish the offender so that they understand the consequences
of their actions, not to make the sufferer whole. According to the retribution
theory, the victim, the society, and the offender themselves all need punishment for
moral reasons.

Rehabilitative sentencing refers to the care and reeducation of an offender with the
aim of putting them back in a position where they can live a life free of crime.

According to the deterrence hypothesis, criminal penalties not only punish

violators but also deter future offenders from performing the same crimes. After a
high-profile incident in which a criminal was perceived to have gotten a light
sentence, many people emphasize the need to deter criminal activity.

The term "incapacitation" alludes to the process of rendering a person "incapable"

of committing a crime, historically through death or exile and more recently
through execution or prolonged incarceration

There are many different types of punishments for someone who has committed a
crime such as probation, fines, community service orders, compensation, forfeiture
of property and imprisonment. Before choosing one of these A prosecutor's
obligations is to prove beyond a reasonable question the defendant's guilt of the
crime when they are on trial for it. The criminal defendant is also allowed to
present a defense and has a variety of options for doing so. The defendant may try
to undermine the prosecutor's evidence, claim that someone else committed the
crime, or assert that although they did perpetrate the crime, they had a valid and
justifiable defense. There are many legal defenses for crimes that can help a
defendant escape penalty for their actions.

One class of defenses accessible to a criminal defendant is making the case that the
defendant cannot be found guilty for the crime because he or she did not know
what he or she was doing or that their actions were improper. 
The justification of insanity is one of its most severe applications. Depending on
the state in which the case is tried, the defendant must establish, in order to
establish insanity, that either he or she had a mental disorder that prevented him or
her from understanding right from wrong or that it prevented him or her from
controlling his or her actions and restraining violent impulses. 

Similar to this, the defense of intoxication bases itself on the idea that the accused
cannot fulfill all of the requirements of the offense because he or she was
intoxicated and therefore unable to comprehend what was happening. Under the
theory that the intoxication stops the defendant from comprehending right and
wrong, it is possible for a defendant to raise the defense of involuntary intoxication
against both general and specific intent offenses.

A criminal defendant may also make the error of law/mistake of fact argument.
According to this argument, a crucial error the defendant made renders a crime-
related aspect moot. For instance, a person accused of larceny might contend that
he thought in error that the victim had given him the item. A criminal defendant
commits a mistake of law when they think their activities are legal. Only very
specific conditions allow for the use of this defense. 
Alongside these criminal defences the judge must consider the individuals
age,character, family circumstances, previous criminal record, whether or not you
pleaded guilty and the impact on the victim.

In Ireland, the Judicial Council works to uphold judicial independence and

excellence in order to maintain public trust in the governance of justice. They
consist of upholding residents' rights, enforcing the law, and administering
criminal justice. The task of the judge is to ensure that each case's resolution is fair
and equitable. 

The Judicial Council's duties are outlined in Section 7 of the Judicial Council Act
2019 as being to support and maintain:

(a) excellence in judges' performance of their judicial obligations;

(B)the wise and effective use of resources provided to judges for the objectives of
carrying out their duties

(C) judges' constant guidance

(D)respect for the judiciary's freedom, and

 (E) public trust in the justice system and its management.

3
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The drug treatment court has been running since 2001. They believe that addiction
is a disease that needs to be treated not punished. It was Set up as a pilot scheme
and it gives people who are addicts the opportunity to come to deal with their
addiction as apposed to the formal system of putting people in jail. This is a very
difficult programme that’s not suited to everyone. They look at previous
convictions, anything of a very violent nature they don’t except. The two things
people are asked to do is keep their appointments and to not pick up new charges.
They work the system on a positive and minus points. If they get 70+ points they
get a €30 voucher and if they get minus 70 points they go into custody for a week.
If the programme doesn’t work they go back to the criminal courts to be dealt with.
If they progress through the whole programme they graduate and all their charges
are struck out.

One of the main issues with the court is that only a tiny percentage of drug addicts
who are considered suitable for it actually complete it. 688 individuals were
admitted to the court between 2010 and 2017. Despite being a substantial
improvement over the court's first ten years of operation, this still only represented
a small portion of the thousands of people charged with drug-related crimes each
year. Only 37 of the 688, or about 5%, finished the gold course and had their
charges ejected. With expenses from the Garda and Probation services included,
the cost of operating the court in 2014 was €123,250, or €14,451 for each of the 40
members that year. 

The drug court has limped along despite having a dismal success record that would
have seen most programs eliminated years ago. Collins believes this is “because it
sounds good”. The fact that the drug treatment court denies defendants due process
is one of the most alarming critiques leveled against it. Participants can have their
bail revoked for minor offenses and are typically not represented by counsel when
standing before the court. After a year, an evaluation of the program revealed that
one-third of participants had their bail revoked for periods varying from two to
forty days. The destiny of the court appeared bleak in 2009 as the recession began.
When it came to cost-effectiveness, the Comptroller and Auditor General raised
concerns, and Seán Aylward, the Department of Justice's then secretary general,
went even further by calling the court “a well-intentioned experiment which should
now be ended”. However, the notion continued to be supported politically, and the
court was granted an extension of time.

There are many benefits of community court initiatives but the main one being that
it gives people the opportunity to better themselves self voluntarily. This gives
substance users out of jail and on the right track. But on the other hand, Not only is
this costly on the stage but this may put the idea into peoples heads that they are
evincible to being sent to jail.