April - June

A follow-up inspection of the Public Prosecution Service for Northern Ireland has shown that core prosecutorial decision making remains sound and the vast majority of decisions made by the PPS are correct.  The inspection carried out by CJI and Her Majesty’s Crown Prosecution Service Inspectorate examined progress made against the recommendations made by Inspectors from HMCPSI and CJI in their original inspection report published in 2007. View report. View Press Release.

Dr Michael Maguire unveiled CJI’s three year Corporate Plan and Business Plan for 2009-10 before MLAs and stakeholders from across the criminal justice system at a reception held in the Long Gallery, Parliament Buildings today.  View plan. View speeech.

Criminal Justice Inspection has published its first inspection report examining the standards and conditions of police custody arrangements in Northern Ireland.  The report which reviewed practice within the PSNI under the legislative requirements of PACE - the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (Northern Ireland) Order 1989 and the OPCAT principles found that standards across Northern Ireland’s 21 designated custody suites to be of an acceptable standard. View report. View Press Release.

 

An inspection report published by CJI has examined the training and development opportunities provided for prison officers within the Northern Ireland Prison Service. The report urges the Prison Service to move towards the provision of developmental training aimed at supporting officers to move away from a turn-key role to that of a role model for prisoners. View Press Release.  View Report

Criminal Justice Inspection is hosting a meeting of 22 high ranking representatives from inspection and oversight bodies from across the United Kingdom at Hillsborough Castle.

Deputy Chief Inspector Brendan McGuigan joined colleagues from across the United Kingdom in London for the formal launch of UK designated bodies for the National Preventative Mechanism (NPM) of OPCAT - the Optional Protocol to the Convention Against Torture.

CJI has called for criminal justice agencies to place a greater emphasis on the promotion of equal opportunities in its latest inspection report.  The report examined the impact of Section 75 of the Northern Ireland Act 1998 which requires public bodies to promote equality of opportunity in carrying out their functions.  View report.  View press release.  To view a copy of the Ministerial Action Plan click here.

Brendan McGuigan, CJI’s Deputy Chief Inspector has met with members of Derry District Policing Partnership to discuss the findings of the recent inspector report on Policing with the Community.

Dr Michael Maguire and Tom McGonigle have attended a meeting with Brian Purcell, Director General of the Irish Prison Service at its headquarters in Longford.  The meeting also enabled them to view the conditions and facilities at Wheatfield prison in west Dublin.  As part of the two-day visit, they also met with Judge Michael Reilly, head of the Irish Prisons Inspectorate in Dublin. The meetings were organised as part of the CJI’s on-going programme of engagement with criminal justice bodies, which assist in increasing understanding and awareness of practice in other jurisdictions within the Inspection Team.

Criminal Justice Inspection has published its review of transition to community arrangements for life sentenced prisoners.  The review, which was carried out at the request of the Criminal Justice Minister Paul Goggins MP, examined the risk assessment and management processes in place within the Northern Ireland Prison Service, the Probation Board for Northern Ireland and the Parole Commissioners for Northern Ireland.  The review revealed that public protection was paramount in all decision made in relation to life sentence prisoners and that the arrangements in place in Northern Ireland compared favourably with those in other jurisdictions.  During the course of the review, Inspectors identified a number of weaknesses within the existing arrangements that could have a negative impact on the review process.  This would be of particular concern if and when increased numbers of prisoners became subject to oversight by the Parole Commissioners as a result of changes in legislation brought about by the Criminal Justice Order 2008.  The Inspectorate has made a number of recommendations to address these weaknesses and will be returning to revisit the subject in a follow-up review to assess progress in about 18 months time. Click here to view a copy of CJI’s press release or to download an electronic copy of the review.  To view the response of the Northern Ireland Prison Service to the review, please follow this link to their website

As part of on-going dialogue and engagement with other partner Inspectorates working in the criminal justice field Dr Michael Maguire has met with Andrew McLellan from Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Prisons for Scotland.  He also toured Edinburgh Prison during his one-day visit.

CJI and HMIC have jointly published their inspection report on Policing with the Community in Northern Ireland.  The inspection report looks at the work carried out by the PSNI in the 10 years since the Patten Report was published to embed policing with the community as the core policing ethos. View Report, View Press Release

 

Dr Michael Maguire and Brendan McGuigan attended an event hosted by the Northern Ireland Office at Hillsborough Castle focusing on Engaging with the Community.