Penal reform campaigners set out election priorities
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The Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) has published its 10 priority proposals for party manifestos in the coming general election.
The NGO is calling on all parties to make the following overarching commitments in the area of criminal justice:
- A commitment to the use of imprisonment as a last resort, both in sentencing and pre-trial detention.
- A commitment to halting prison expansion.
- A commitment to proactive measures that will reduce the number of people in prison.
- A commitment to legislating, resourcing and supporting alternative responses to prison for people who offend.
- A commitment to enhancing proportionality and transparency in sentencing, while protecting judicial independence.
- A commitment to implementing coherent, data-driven and evidence-informed penal policy and ensuring transparency in decision-making related to the criminal justice system.
- A commitment to the swift ratification of the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT) and establishment of a National Preventative Mechanism (NPM) without further delay.
- A commitment to prioritising the roll-out of a long-overdue revised prisoner complaints system.
- A commitment to developing a whole-of-government strategy to support and promote rehabilitation and reintegration and taking practical measures to remove barriers for people with a conviction.
- A commitment to developing an interdepartmental strategy to support children with a parent in prison.
“Whichever party/parties form the next government face an immense task to tackle both chronic and acute problems in prisons and in the criminal justice system more widely to help more people move on from offending,” it said.
“There are many issues in penal policy deserving of attention, but prison overcrowding is among the most pressing. This is where the focus of any new government needs to be in the immediate term.”
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