On Ireland's most cutting edge current affairs show, Matt and his guests provide a running stream of intelligent opinions and heated debates on the issues that matter most to Irish listeners. You might not always agree, but you'll never want to miss a Word.
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The Last Word with Matt Cooper
In the second part of our week-long series on Ireland's prisons, we looked at the issue of sentencing and bail. In comparison to other common law jurisdictions, Ireland has a relatively unstructured sentencing system, and judges have a high degree of discretion in this area. Landmark legislation to deal with judicial misconduct and sentencing guidelines has been passed in the Dáil, 20 years after it was first proposed. But what impact will it have, if any? Is there a need to avoid shorter sentences, and what is the impact that they have on families? These were just some of the issues discussed by Conor Hanly, lecturer in law at NUIG and an expert in sentencing and criminal law, Fiona Donson, Director of the Centre for Criminal Justice and Human Rights at University College Cork, and Lorraine Clifford-Lee, Fianna Fáil senator and Seanad spokesperson on Justice and Equality. Listen to the interview in full by pressing the play button on this page.