Will Glover

This Practice Note looks at the principal money laundering offences in Ireland including the applicable penalties and relevant legal framework. This note also refers to the additional offences which affect designated persons and touches on their reporting requirements. In addition, the note highlights the key registration requirements for businesses.

This Practice Note considers sentencing procedure in the magistrates’ court and Crown Court in accordance with the Sentencing Act 2020 (Sentencing Code). It covers how a sentencing hearing takes place including information on the procedural options available to the sentencing court (eg adjourning for pre-sentence reports, and, in the magistrates’ court, committing for sentence to the Crown Court, as well as deferring a sentence or proceeding to sentence immediately). It explains the material to be obtained in advance alongside any pre-sentence report such as impact statements of victims, communities and businesses, and character references to support the defendant’s mitigation. It also covers the procedure of a sentencing hearing, explaining that the prosecution advocate opens the facts and then the defence advocate summarises mitigation before the judge then pronounces the sentence and provides links to other relevant content. It also explains the ability of the court to correct minor errors in sentences under section 142 of the Magistrates’ Court Act 1980 or section 385 of the Sentencing Act 2020, commonly referred to as ‘the slip rule’.

This Practice Note considers previous convictions, including what is meant by a spent conviction, when convictions will not become spent, rehabilitation periods and the categorisation of other means of disposal including absolute discharges, conditional cautions and fixed penalty notices etc, for criminal records purposes. It also considers, for organisations, disposals such as non prosecution or deferred prosecution agreements (DPAs). In addition, it explains how previous convictions or cautions (an offender’s criminal record) might impact upon new criminal investigations (including via searches using the Police National Computer (PNC)) and decisions to prosecute. This includes decisions to offer DPAs where corporate recidivism is concerned, requirements to disclose previous convictions in criminal or quasi criminal matters, for example when complying with a duty of candour to the court, bail applications, good and bad character assessments and sentencing. It also considers proof of previous convictions as an element of the offence.