The Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) has called for a further investigation into a Facebook group for prison officers which allegedly includes racist and anti-Traveller material. The Irish Times reported last week that the Irish Prison Service (IPS) has again asked the social media giant to remove th
Prisons
An online seminar on the Prison Rules is set to restart the Irish Penal Reform Trust's (IPRT) prison law seminar series for 2021. Co-hosted with the Irish Criminal Bar Association (ICBA), The Prison Rules: Current Impact and Opportunities for Reform will take place this Thursday 25 February at 4pm v
A long-delayed review into the care of vulnerable people in Northern Ireland's prisons is reportedly on track to be completed this summer. The review was first announced in 2016 after a series of deaths in custody and was subsequently passed in December 2018 to the Regulation and Quality Improvement
The positive changes rapidly made in Ireland's prison service during the Covid-19 pandemic are at risk of being reversed, the Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) has warned. The penal reform body today published its fourth annual review of standards in Irish prisons, which welcomes the reduction of pris
Plans to allow Ireland to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture (OPCAT) by 2023 form part of the prison inspectorate's first-ever strategic plan. The Office of the Inspector of Prisons yesterday published a three-year strategic plan for the period up to and including 2023, w
A small number of virtual prison visits will take place on Christmas Day this year, the Northern Ireland Prison Service has announced. The move follows the suspension of physical prison visits from midnight tonight under the latest Covid-19 restrictions.
Physical visits to Irish prisons will be suspended from midnight tomorrow under the latest Covid-19 restrictions. All physical visits booked after 24 December 2020 have now been cancelled and families have been urged to rebook a video visit.
The Court of Appeal has rejected a man’s argument that he was imprisoned for 24 hours longer than permitted. Upholding Mr Justice Seamus Noonan’s decision in the High Court, Ms Justice Máire Whelan said that the calculation of the term of his imprisonment was correct.
No prisoners will benefit from temporary release for Christmas this year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, Justice Minister Naomi Long has announced. In-person prison visits will be re-introduced over the holiday season, but the Christmas home leave scheme has been put "on pause".
The government has come under renewed pressure to ratify a UN treaty on torture following a critical report on conditions in Irish prisons, psychiatric facilities and social care homes. The Council of Europe's committee on the prevention of torture (CPT) yesterday published a report based on its vis
A review of support measures for prison officers suffering from work-related stress has been delayed by at least a month and a half. The review was announced by Justice Minister Naomi Long in June and was originally due to be completed by the end of October.
Care and supervision units (CSUs) in Northern Ireland prisons are set to be reviewed following concerns about the length of time some prisoners have spent in them. Late last month, investigative journalists at The Detail found that there were 611 occasions between 1 November 2016 and 31 October 2019
Two of Ireland's largest prisons are facing suspected outbreaks of Covid-19. A firearms trial at the Special Criminal Court was postponed this morning due to a suspected outbreak at Mountjoy Prison, according to reports.
Andrew Desmond, associate at William Fry, examines a recent investigation by the Data Protection Commission (DPC). The Data Protection Commission has found a security system used in Irish prisons to be in breach of the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) after investigating a complaint by a pr
Plans for a new joint "care and justice campus" for children and young people, incorporating the existing Lakewood Regional Secure Care Centre and Woodlands Juvenile Justice Centre, have gone out for consultation. Justice Minister Naomi Long said the combined campus would help to reduce offending an