Judiciary must be independent, but equally must be Accountable - Donaldson
Responding to comments made by the Lord Chief Justice, Brian Kerr in which he defended the Judiciary from accusations of lenient sentencing, Kenny Donaldson, an Ulster Unionist Party Officer has stated:
“The Lord Chief Justice has apportioned responsibility squarely at the door of Parliament claiming that ‘judges do not make the law, they perform the task of sentencing within it.’
“Such comments mean little to the public; the fact of the matter is that there is an inherent anger within the public towards our Criminal Justice system and the sentences which are being handed out. The public perception is that, a message is being sent out to criminals and ‘would be criminals’ that, crime pays.
“The public frankly do not care whether its’ Parliament, the Judiciary or both who are responsible for sentencing. What they desire is to be protected, they crave to have confidence in the Criminal Justice system, and they want to see the perpetrators of crime held to account for their actions. The rights of victims should always be paramount, perpetrators of crime through their actions deprive themselves of certain rights extended to those who are law abiding.”
Kenny added: “I 100% respect the independence of the Judiciary, it should not be comprised by political interference however I equally believe that the Judiciary must be held accountable for its’ interpretation of law and its’ refusal to hand out the stiffest possible sentence within the parameters available through law.
“The public cry is for the Judiciary to mirror the general populace, it must cease to be aloof from wider society, if it continues to operate within a vacuum, public support and respect for the system will dwindle even further. Its’ crunch time for the law makers and the law implementers and the public are growing increasingly impatient,” concluded Kenny.