The work of IPRT is led by a number of standards developed by international bodies, organisations and courts in relation to imprisonment and wider issues of the State’s penal policy. In particular, our work is based on the commitment to implement in Ireland a human rights-based approach to penal policy.
With this in mind, IPRT’s research, policy and awareness-raising campaigns are developed to support and monitor the implementation in the context of penal policy in Ireland of the United Nations and Council of Europe standards.
The IPRT is also committed to the promotion of best practice examples that have proved effective in other jurisdictions. To this end, we aim to provide a comprehensive library of good practices that can be accessed and used by practitioners, academics, prisoners, and anyone else interested in penal reform and penal policy. The Library is updated on a regular basis to take into account most recent developments in this area.
25th May 2018
The Ministry of Justice recently published an Analytical Summary examining the reoffending impact of short-term custodial and court order sentences on different groups of offenders.
15th May 2018
Penal Reform International (PRI) has published the 2018 edition of 'Global Prison Trends'.
25th January 2018
Youth Justice Statistics for 2016/2017 published by the Youth Justice Board and the Ministry of Justice.
17th December 2017
The latest edition of the Prison Reform Trust's Bromley Briefings Prison Factfile provides extensive facts and figures on a wide range of key areas within the UK prison system.
4th December 2017
Prison Reform Trust (2017) “There’s a reason we’re in trouble” Domestic abuse as a driver to women’s offending.
14th November 2017
The Campbell Collaboration released a fourth Policy Brief, 'The Effects of Sentencing Policy on Re-offending', which summarises information provided in 12 systematic reviews that focused on different aspects of sentencing policy, such as, benefit-cost analyses of sentencing, formal processing of juveniles, and effects on re-offending of custodial vs non-custodial sanctions.
9th November 2017
The Institute for Criminal Research published the fourth edition of the World Female Imprisonment List, providing a comprehensive report on the number of women and girls in penal institutions worldwide.
27th October 2017
The current system for disclosure of youth criminal records undermines the principles of the youth justice system, says the Justice Committee in a new report published today, 27 October 2017.
24th August 2017
Stop Solitary for Kids is a website that highlights developments in particular States within the United States of America (USA) that have passed legislation that aim to limit the use of solitary confinement for children in detention. Currently 18 out of the 51 States in the U.S.A have either developed or are currently developing legislation reducing the use of solitary confinement for children.
10th August 2017
Lord Farmer’s report (2017) The Importance of Strengthening Prisoners' Family Ties to Prevent Reoffending and Reduce Intergenerational Crime was undertaken in collaboration with the charity Clinks and commissioned by the UK government. The report aimed to establish a link between a prisoner’s relationship with family and a reduction in reoffending. The report was part of the government’s strategy to overhaul prison policy, and according to Lord Farmer it is intended to be one of the biggest overhauls in a generation. The report was commissioned to act as a point of reference for the Secretary of State as he “rolls out the wider reform programme”.
Respect for rights in the penal system with prison as a last resort.