Jacqui Durkin

Following the report’s publication this morning, the chief inspector of criminal justice in Northern Ireland, Jacqui Durkin, called for movement on a long-standing proposal to introduce a Bail Act for Northern Ireland to provide greater levels of consistency and certainty around bail law.

The introduction of a Bail Act was first recommended by the now-defunct Northern Ireland Law Commission in 2012.

“We accept there have been competing legislative priorities and three years without an Assembly in the intervening 10 years,” Mrs Durkin said.

“However, based on the evidence gathered in this inspection and our assessment of it, we recommend the DoJ should go further than its proposed changes to legislative provisions for the operation of bail for children and young people and undertake a public consultation on more-wide ranging, ambitious reforms to bail for all defendants to inform the legislative programme in the next Northern Ireland Assembly mandate.”

The inspection found that time spent on police or court bail and remand was contributing to delays in the courts, with court lists and lawyers’ time “spent dealing with recurring bail and remand hearings”.

James Corrigan, deputy chief inspector, added: “Northern Ireland has one of the highest rates for remanding people in custody in Europe — with figures double compared to England and Wales.

“In 2021-22, almost 80 per cent of all prison committals were remand prisoners and nearly 40 per cent of our prison population were unsentenced prisoners.

“Defendants who have spent time on remand in prison but are later released on bail or having served their time prior to conviction miss opportunities to utilise prison-based rehabilitation programmes, meaningfully address offending behaviour or reduce the risk of offending in the future.

“Unlike England and Wales, the use of police bail in Northern Ireland has not been the subject of any recent significant review, consultation, or legislative change.”

The report also makes a number of recommendations which do not require legislation. For instance, it recommends that the Department of Justice and the PSNI should develop an options paper for police bail to include the use of time limits, scrutiny arrangements and enhanced protections for victims and witnesses.

It also recommends that the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland update its legal guidance on bail decisions to assist prosecutors, police, service-users and the wider public, similar to the detailed guidance provided by the Crown Prosecution Service in England and Wales.

The report reveals that information at an individual or system wide level is not readily available to support effective monitoring and decision-making. 

Mrs Durkin said: “Better collection of data and better use of management information is a recurring theme in many of our inspections and this one is no different. Gaps in information and its analysis need to be addressed to support effective monitoring and inform decision making, help address inefficiencies, increase governance, and improve the use of valuable police resources.

“As part of this work the Criminal Justice Board should take a lead in developing effective governance and delivery arrangements for bail and remand. This should include developing alternatives to remand such as the use of electronic monitoring and bail support schemes for defendants and the need for legislative reform to meet the needs of our criminal justice system today and tomorrow.”

She added: “How this is achieved is no mean feat for any future minister of justice to deliver. We all know that the prolonged absence of an Executive and legislature has a significant impact on many areas of much needed reform.

“But another decade cannot slip by as we fall yet further behind other jurisdictions and opportunities to improve the operation of the bail and remand system to better support the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland are lost.”