Courts / Dublin / Report
Man loses challenge to constitutionality of mandatory minimum firearms sentences
Summary
Wayne Ellis, 35, from Ballyfermot, lost a challenge to the constitutionality of mandatory minimum sentences for firearms offences. He had pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm in suspicious circumstances and to possession of certain articles at Knocklyon Shopping Centre on 5 July 2012. In 2014 Judge Mary Ellen Ring gave him a wholly suspended sentence, but the Court of Appeal later ruled the sentence was "unduly lenient" and ordered him to serve a five‑year term. Ellis's lawyers argued that the mandatory minimum provisions under Section 27A (8) of the Firearms Act 1964, as amended by the Criminal Justice Act 2006, infringed the separation of powers and the principle of proportionality. The High Court refused to declare the section unconstitutional, and the Court of Appeal agreed, noting that the legislature had a legitimate role in setting sentencing parameters and that the mandatory minimum was not irrational or disproportionate.
Who, what, where, when and why
What: Report matter: Man loses challenge to constitutionality of mandatory minimum firearms sentences. Charges or matters: possession of a firearm in suspicious circumstances as well as certain articles at Knocklyon Shopping Centre on July 5, 2012. Procedural stage: appeal
When:
- July 5, 2012 Incident
- May 26, 2014 Incident
- 2017-07-31 Publication
Case subjects
Appellant
Charges: possession of a firearm in suspicious circumstances as well as certain articles at Knocklyon Shopping Centre on July 5, 2012 (Admitted)
Plea: Guilty
Outcome: Ellis' barrister, Caroline Biggs SC, submitted that the elimination or restriction of the courts' sentencing discretion offends the notion of the separation of powers and also conflicts with the requirement that sentences imposed should be proportionate. She said the constitutional dimension was brought into focus by the fact Ellis originally received a suspended sentence, considered just and proportionate by the sentencing judge in the Circuit Court at the time, and that the courts were in effect compelled by the Oireachtas to impose an actual sentence of a specified minimum duration.
Places mentioned
- Landen Road
- Dublin
- Dublin Circuit Criminal Court
- Court of Appeal
- The High Court
- High Court
Topics
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