Mr Justice Carney said yesterday that guilty pleas made at the "earliest possible opportunity" in the Central Criminal Court would be rewarded by him with a lesser sentence except where the penalty was mandatory.
Guilty pleas were always rewarded by the courts with a lesser sentence than that which followed conviction by a jury. Pleas of guilty frequently came "at the last possible opportunity" on the day when the case had been fixed for trial.
Mr Justice Carney said this was the point when it was of least benefit to the victim, the court list and the taxpayer. However, pleas even at this time would still be rewarded by the court.
He added: "The earlier on a plea is forthcoming, the more valuable it is to society as a whole and to the victim in particular, and I propose to take this into account in sentencing."
Mr Justice Carney said the Central Criminal Court was currently experiencing an annual increase in its case load of 57 per cent and this year would have returned for trial more than 150 bills of indictment in murder and serious sexual crime cases.
He said guilty pleas were currently forthcoming in about 40 per cent of cases and to "keep its head above water" the Central Criminal Court was dependent on this level of guilty pleas being "at least maintained".