A suspended sentence in Ireland: section 99, the conditions and what breach means

A suspended sentence is a sentence of imprisonment that you do not serve, on terms. The court fixes a term, suspends all or part of it for a period, and binds you to conditions. Keep to the conditions and the prison term never operates. Breach them, and you can be sent back to the court that imposed it to serve it. It was the outcome in 2,849 summary orders in 2025.

People sometimes hear "suspended" and think "let off". It is the opposite of a strike out or a Probation Act dismissal: it is a conviction, it is a sentence of imprisonment on your record, and it is the last stop before custody. This guide explains how it works, what the conditions are, what breach means, and what it leaves on the record.

The law: section 99

Section 99 of the Criminal Justice Act 2006 gives any court that sentences a person to imprisonment the power to suspend the sentence, in whole or in part, on the person entering a recognisance, which is a bond, to keep the peace and be of good behaviour during the period of suspension and to comply with any other conditions the court sets. The section was substantially amended after a High Court decision in 2016 found the original breach procedure unconstitutional, and the procedure now in force is the amended one.

In the District Court the sentence itself is capped at twelve months on one charge and two years in all for consecutive sentences, under the Criminal Justice Act 1984. The period of suspension is a separate figure the court fixes; it can be longer than the sentence.

Full and part suspension

The court can suspend the whole sentence, so that no time is served if you comply, or part of it, so that you serve the unsuspended part first and the remainder hangs over you for the period of suspension after release. A sentence of "six months, with the final three suspended" means three months in custody and three months suspended on conditions.

A fully suspended sentence is the common form in the District Court. It tells you that the court judged the offence serious enough for custody, and judged you, your plea and your circumstances strong enough that custody should not be served unless you offend again.

The conditions

Every suspended sentence carries two conditions the Act requires: to keep the peace and to be of good behaviour for the period. The court can add others, and in practice often does. The ones you are most likely to see:

• No contact with a named person, or stay away from a named place or area.
• Supervision by the Probation Service for all or part of the period, and compliance with its directions.
• Attend a treatment programme for alcohol, drugs, anger or offending behaviour.
• Pay compensation to the injured party by a date.
• Abstain from alcohol or drugs, or from entering licensed premises.
• Reside at a named address, or notify any change.
• Do not leave the State, where the court thinks it necessary.

You sign the bond in court before you leave. Read the conditions on it. They bind you for the whole period, and the court may add a sum to be forfeited on breach.

What breach means

There are two kinds of breach, and the Act treats them differently.

A new offence. If you are convicted of an offence committed during the period of suspension, the court that convicts you, after it sentences you for the new offence, must remand you to the court that suspended the original sentence. That court holds a hearing and decides whether to revoke the suspension and activate the sentence in full, to activate part of it, or, where it considers it unjust to do so in all the circumstances, not to activate it. The new offence does not have to be serious or of the same kind: any offence during the period triggers the hearing. The court looks at what the new offence was, how far into the period you were, and how you had complied otherwise.

Breach of another condition. If you breach a condition that is not a new offence, such as missing probation appointments, contacting a named person or not paying compensation, the Garda or the Probation Service can apply to the court that imposed the sentence to have the suspension revoked. The same hearing follows, and the court has the same options.

Where the sentence is activated, you serve the period activated, and an activated sentence can be appealed in the same way as any other.

The period of suspension ends

When the period runs out without breach, the sentence has no further effect. There is no application to make and no certificate; the bond simply expires. The conviction, and the record of the sentence, remain.

It is a conviction, and a sentence of imprisonment

This is the part people miss. A suspended sentence is a conviction with a sentence of imprisonment attached. On any form that asks "have you ever been convicted" the answer is yes, and on any form that asks "have you ever been sentenced to imprisonment" the honest answer is also yes, with the explanation that the sentence was suspended. That matters for:

• Garda vetting, which discloses the conviction and the sentence; the seven-year non-disclosure rule applies only once the sentence is completed, which for a suspended sentence means the period of suspension has run.
• Insurance, where a proposal form asks about convictions.
• Travel, where the US ESTA, Canada and Australia ask about convictions and about sentences, and Australia's character test looks at sentences of twelve months or more whether or not served.
• Employment, where a contract or a regulator requires disclosure of a conviction; the EmploymentWise guide on a conviction and your job explains the employment side.

What the record holds and who can see it is in criminal record in Ireland, and the vetting and travel detail is in Garda vetting, police certificates and travel.

Spent after seven years

A suspended sentence is a qualifying sentence under the Criminal Justice (Spent Convictions and Certain Disclosures) Act 2016. The conviction becomes spent seven years after the effective date, which for a suspended sentence is the date the sentence was imposed, provided it is your only conviction or falls within the minor motoring and public order carve-outs, and the offence is not one that can never be spent. Once spent, you do not have to disclose it except to the Garda, the courts and for the roles the Act lists. See spent convictions and the seven-year rule. The date for your own conviction is in the spent convictions tool.

Appeal

A suspended sentence can be appealed to the Circuit Court within 14 days of the order, on Form 101.2 lodged with the District Court clerk with a statutory declaration of service, and entering the recognisance stays the order until the appeal is heard. The appeal is a full rehearing, and the Circuit Court can reduce the sentence, remove the suspension so that it is served, or leave it as it is. See appealing a District Court decision. The alternatives the court could have chosen, with their 2025 counts, are in what the District Court can do, and the closest alternative, community service, has its own guide.

Where this leaves you

The spent convictions tool gives the date your conviction becomes spent and what has to be disclosed in the meantime. If you may qualify for legal aid, ask the judge for it at your first appearance; the tests are on legal aid. A solicitor should be with you at any breach hearing, where the stakes are the whole sentence: how to find one. If the period of suspension is weighing on you, support lists who to talk to.