THE SUPREME COURT has ruled that life sentences for children convicted of murder should only be imposed in cases where the intentions and actions of the child “resembled those of an adult”.

In a landmark ruling today, the Supreme Court said that a life sentence is not mandatory in the case of child killers, and it should only be used in “exceptional cases”.

The court also ruled that the Central Criminal Court has no power to review sentences imposed on child offenders after a period of time – meaning that life sentences for juveniles cannot be reviewed or changed by the Central Criminal Court in the months or years after an initial ruling.

An appeal was taken by a 17-year-old boy convicted of murdering Mongolian woman Urantsetseg Tserendorj in January 2021, who had been sentenced to life with a review after 13 years.

The boy was 14 when he committed the murder.

In the judgment today, the Supreme Court ruled that, following the repeal of the Children’s Act 1908 in 2007, a sentencing court does not have the power to review the detention of a child convicted of murder.

In relation to the murder of Urantsetseg Tserendorj the court ruled that the sentence imposed was “within the range of what could appropriately be imposed”, although it was at the upper end of that range.

“There was no error in principle,” the court heard.

The court ruled that a sentencing court may not reserve the power to modify a sentence through a review procedure, as it would “infringe the Constitution”.

The judgment, in effect, means that a small number of people who were sentenced as children to life sentences are now serving straightforward life sentences.

Separately, the Supreme Court ruled today that protections prohibiting the naming of a man convicted of killing Cork student Cameron Blair should continue to apply throughout and beyond the trial – as the convicted teenager in question turned 18 during the trial.

The 17-year-old stabbed the college student to death in Cork in January 2020.

The man had reached adulthood when the Court of Appeal last year dismissed his appeal against being sentenced to life detention with a review to be conducted after serving 13 years.

The Supreme Court ruled that the protections should apply when criminal proceedings are commenced against a child and continue to apply throughout and beyond the conclusion of the proceedings.