Modern, efficient and just legal system needed for Ireland

The recent controversy involving the courts, in which a vicious rapist got a three-year suspended sentence, is indicative of the rot that pervades the Irish judicial system. Judges, answerable to no one, are able to hand down inconsistent sentences almost with impunity. The sentences that are handed down daily in Irish courts have less to do with the law and more to do with the judges' moods, whims and biases. These people are living in ivory towers, untouched by the real world and the consequences of their actions.
Barristers are able to charge exorbitant fees that guarantee only the rich get adequate representation, while the Law Society holds almost a monopoly on the numbers, training and appointment of future barristers.

The minister for justice is prepared to rush legislation through the Dáil for his pet projects but will not initiate the reforms that are desperately needed in our legal system. He only seems concerned with the welfare of his party's small number of supporters, leaving the rest of us to suffer in an obsolete system.
Do-gooders and special-interest groups seem intent on “curing” criminals instead of punishing them. There are some criminals that are like a cancer in society and like a cancer, paedophiles, rapists and murderers need to be cut out of the body public and locked away forever. Human rights for criminals are all well and good but what about criminals taking responsibility for their actions and accepting punishment for their crimes?

It's time that the justice system in Ireland was made answerable to the will of the people. We need to remove the last remnants of the post-colonial legal system that we inherited from the British and install a modern, efficient and most importantly, just system that rewards the good and punishes the bad.

Seán MacGabhann, Co Kildare