Ebulletin #69

May 25, 2012

In this edition:

  1. Introduction
  2. Prison Law Seminar: ‘Lessons from Scotland’
  3. Save the Dates: Upcoming IPRT Events
  4. Event: Impact in Ireland of the UNCAT
  5. Prisons and Penal Reform: Recent Developments in Ireland
  6. IPRT in the News
  7. Upcoming Events

__________________________

1. Introduction

The past few months have seen a number of major developments in Irish penal reform. On April 2nd, the Minister for Children announced plans to end the detention of children at St. Patrick's within two years, with 16 year olds being diverted to Oberstown from 1st May 2012.  On April 19th, the Minister for Justice and Equality announced that a new system of investigating all deaths of prisoners would be put in place, overseen by the Inspector of Prisons.  This has also been a campaigning priority for IPRT over many years.

On April 30th, the Irish Prison Service launched a three year Strategic Plan, to which IPRT had significant input, which includes commitments to (i) end slopping out with 40 months; (ii) renovate Cork, Mountjoy and Limerick Prisons; and (iii) specific strategies to meet the needs of vulnerable and marginalised groups in the prison population. A revised version of the Spent Convictions Bill was also published recently and IPRT will shortly be issuing our analysis of the Bill. Progress on other key human rights issues is also moving closer, with the Inspector of Prisons recently submitting recommendations for a new complaints process within the prison system. All of these achievements have been built on the platform of policy work and alliance-building which IPRT has put in place over the past four years. 

The launch of the IPRT/ICCL Prisoners’ Rights booklet and the associated promotion activities, particularly in prisons, will have a major impact on prisoners’ human rights awareness and will be of long-lasting value in the promotion of human rights through the prison system. We have already had launches of Know Your Rights - Your Rights as a Prisoner in Dublin, Limerick and Cork and in the next two weeks we will be launching the booklet and an audio version in four prisons. Hosting events outside of Dublin, but especially hosting events in prison, is another major step forward for IPRT.

While all of these policy developments are of great importance, the situation on the ground in many of the prisons remains extremely difficult particularly as we move into the summer months.  Overcrowding and violence remain acute and the disempowerment of prisoners, who still have no access to an independent complaints system, dominates prison life. We are shifting our attention and energies to address this one key problem within the system – the problem of accountability; and we are hopeful that we can begin to see progress in this area in the coming months too.

Liam Herrick,

Executive Director

Keep up to date on IPRT news and activities between e-bulletins:

W: www.iprt.ie / Tw: www.twitter.com/iprt / Fb: www.facebook.com/irishpenalreformtrust

___________________________

2. Prison Law Seminar: ‘Lessons from Scotland’

The Irish Penal Reform Trust and Dublin Institute of Technology are pleased to announce that Tony Kelly, leading Scottish human rights and prison law solicitor, will speak on the topic: Using the European Convention on Human Rights in prison law cases: Lessons from Scotland. More information about the speaker is available here: http://www.iprt.ie/contents/2333

Day/time: Wednesday, May 30th, 2012 from 6-7.30pm

Location: Room 5034 (fifth floor), Dublin Institute of Technology, Aungier Street, Dublin 2.

The event will be followed by a reception.

Registrations / CPD certificates:

This seminar is funded by the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences, as part of its Research Development Initiative. It is part of a collaborative project between Dublin Institute of Technology and the Irish Penal Reform Trust. See:  http://www.irchss.ie/awrads/rdi 

___________________________

3. Save the Dates! Upcoming IPRT events:

Keep an eye on www.iprt.ie for more news about these and other upcoming events!

___________________________

4. Preventing Ill-Treatment and Securing Accountability: Impact in Ireland of the UNCAT

On Monday 28th May, 2012, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and Justice for Magdalenes will co-host an event focusing on the impact in Ireland of the work of the UN Committee against Torture. The event marks the one year follow-up on Ireland's first examination under the United Nations Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (UNCAT), which took place in June 2011. During this first periodic review, Ireland faced tough human rights questions from members of the United Nations Committee against Torture on issues including abortion, prison conditions, domestic violence, the asylum process, extraordinary rendition, trafficking and redress for survivors of the Magdalene laundries.

For this event, ICCL is bringing together national and international experts to discuss the impact in Ireland of the work of the UN’s top anti-torture experts. The keynote speaker is Felice Gaer, Director of the New York-based Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights and Vice-Chair of the UN Committee against Torture.*A representative of Justice for Magdalenes will speak about their experience of using the UNCAT to enhance the impact of their advocacy.

Tea and coffee will be served; the venue is fully accessible.

Places are limited, so please RSVP to Aoife Murphy at aoife.murphy@iccl.ie

* Ms. Gaer is participating in this event in her personal capacity.

___________________________

5. Prisons and Penal Reform: Recent Developments in Ireland

Penal policy in Ireland is often described as frustratingly stagnant and one dimensional, with prison building being the long established default initiative of Irish penal policy. Recently, however, there has been a move away from prison expansion, and there seems to be an emerging understanding of effective alternatives to custody. Read our Guest Blog, which has a round-up of recent developments in penal policy, and shows that we may have reason to be optimistic about the future of penal reform.

___________________________

6. IPRT in the News

For a full list and links, click here.

___________________________

7. Upcoming Events