IPRT promotes a penal system that is: humane as experienced by people who are detained, protects and promotes human rights and equality, and strives to achieve international best practice in formal regimes, daily practices and overall culture.
It is the sentence of deprivation of liberty in itself that is the core punitive sanction, the conditions and treatment while in prison should not be used as additional punishment.
Accordingly, we believe that while restrictions on the freedom of movement are necessarily introduced while in prison, prisoners should retain all other rights to the greatest possible degree while serving their sentences. In particular, IPRT believes that prisoners have the right to be treated with dignity and respect for their rights; they have the right to safety and security of the person, the right to be treated humanely and be free from torture, degrading or inhuman treatment or punishment.
We work to ensure that regimes in prisons and children detention facilities are humane, and reflect human rights standards as a minimum in the short term, striving for international best practice in the medium to long term.
18th July 2016
Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality Frances Fitzgerald TD performed the official opening of the new Cork Prison today.
30th June 2016
The Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality published the Inspector of Prisons Report on 8 June, 2016 titled Evaluation and Analysis of the Operation of the present Irish Prison Service Prisoner Complaints Procedure.
10th February 2015
The Irish Prison Service Statistics Office recently published its quarterly statistical analysis of prison population, cell occupancy and in-cell sanitation facts and figures.
1st September 2014
The Irish Prison Services Statistics Unit recently published its quarterly Census of Restricted Prisoners in the Irish Penal system. The Census indicates a slight reduction in the number of prisoners on restricted regimes.
1st September 2014
The Irish Prison Service's July Report deals with facts and figures relating to prison population, cell occupancy and cell sanitation in the Irish penal estate.
3rd July 2014
Can you help IPRT get to the UN Human Rights Committee in Geneva? IPRT has successfully used international human rights monitoring mechanisms to bring about real reform in the Irish penal system – read more about our achievements here. But our work is not done yet.
26th June 2014
Today, the International Day in Support of Victims of Torture, IPRT is highlighting that the Government still hasn't met its commitment to ratify the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT).
25th February 2014
The Howard League for Penal Reform has established an independent Commission on Sex in Prison to undertake the first ever review of both consensual and coercive sex inside prison.
28th May 2013
A new sourcebook on Solitary Confinement aims to encourage policy makers and prison managers to limit the use of solitary confinement to a measure of last resort
3rd April 2013
Published on 7th March 2013 the Prisons and Probation Ombudsman report reviews the response of the Prison Service in England and Wales to a growing population of elderly prisoners.
Respect for rights in the penal system with prison as a last resort.