Justice

The courts are plagued with erratic sentencing, which encourages the belief that the scales of justice are bent, if not broken
By Kerry Dougherty

Nicky Kelly, of Arklow, Co. Wicklow, is currently serving a 12-year jail sentence in Portlaoise prison for an offence he did not commit, the Sallins mail train robbbery in March 1976. He is likely to go on hunger strike in prison within the next few weeks in protest against his conviction and, given his current mental state, he is very likely to at least do himself very considerable damage, if not actually starve himself to death.

The cause of women's rights must command the support of all those who believe themselves to stand against injustice and inequality. By Vincent Browne

When Noel and Marie Murray were sentenced to death in 1976 for the capital murder of Garda Reynolds there was a widespread belief that it would be unthinkable that the Coalition Government, comprising so many self-confessed liberals, would not commute the sentence to life imprisonment. In the event the issue didn't arise because of the intervention of the Supreme Court but there has been telling evidence since then that, had it come to a decision by the cabinet at the time, there would have been a majority in favour of execution.

Inexplicably, the judges of the Court of Criminal Appeal have delayed the publication of their judgement on the reasons for overturning the Special Criminal Court's conviction of Osgur Breathnach and Brian McNally, both of the IRSP. But even in the absence of this judgement it is possible to make some observations on the significance of the acquittal and of the affair generally.

Questions are again to be asked in the Dail about the fingerprint affair in spite of Gerry Collins' confidence last May that his statement on the 23rd of that month finally disposed of the matter.

Questions are again to be asked in the Dail about the fingerprint affair in spite of Gerry Collins' confidence last May that his statement on the 23rd of that month finally disposed of the matter.

Why Marie McMahon was Falsely charged for prostitution

SEVEN months after the Dail passed tough truth-in-advertising legislation creating a consumer affairs office, a director has not yet been appointed and no action has been taken against offenders of that law.

THE Supreme Court decision in the case brought by the Irish Family Planning Association against the Censorrship of Publications Board marks an important watershed in this country's legal and social history. Although the present system of book censorship has been in existence for almost fifty years, this case is the first in which a ban imposed by the Board has been challenged and overridden by the courts. By Alan Shatter