Sinn Féin committed to voting for the Judicial Appointments Commission Bill after the Government agreed to introduce sentencing guidelines as part of an accompanying package. The guidelines, which will not be binding on judges, will be contained in the Judicial Council Bill. While a sentencing information committee was initially envisaged, this will now be upgraded to a sentencing guidelines committee. “What is currently in the Judicial Council Bill is just a committee that collects information,” he said. The Judicial Appointments Commission Bill is scheduled to pass all stages in the Dáil this week, and it is hoped that the Judicial Council Bill will have passed committee stage by the summer.

Source: The Irish Times May 22, 2018 17:26 UTC