Police Custody in Ireland brings together experts from policing studies, law, criminology, and psychology, to critically examine contemporary police custody in Ireland, what we know about it, how it operates, how it is experienced, and how it might be improved. This first-of-its-kind collection focuses exclusively on detention in Garda Síochána stations, critically examining it from human rights and best practice perspectives. It examines the physical environment of custody, police interview techniques, existing protections, rights, and entitlements, and experiences of specific communities in custody, such as children, ethnic minorities, non-English speakers, the Mincéir/Traveller community, and those with intellectual disabilities or Autism Spectrum Disorder. Police Custody in Ireland gives a snapshot of garda custody as it is now and makes important recommendations for necessary future improvements. An accessible and compelling read, this book will be of interest to those engaged in policing and criminology, as well as related areas of interest such as human rights, youth justice and disability studies.

This book examines the forms and practices of Irish confinement from the 19th century to present-day to explore the social and political failings of 20th and 21st century postcolonial Ireland. Building on an interdisciplinary conference held in the Crumlin Road Gaol, Belfast, the methodological approaches adopted across this book range from the historical and archival to the sociological, political, and literary. This edited collection touches on topics such as industrial schools, Magdalen laundries, struggles and resistance in prisons both North and South, Direct Provision, and the ways in which prison experiences have been represented in literature, cinema, and the arts. It sketches out an uncomfortable picture of the techniques for policing bodies deployed in Ireland for over a century. This innovative study seeks to establish a link between Ireland’s inhumane treatment of women and children, of prisoners, and of asylum seekers today, and to expose and pinpoint modes of resistance to these situations.

This book provides the first comprehensive account of the role played by the European Convention on Human Rights during the conflict in Northern Ireland from 1968. Brice Dickson studies the effectiveness of the Convention in protecting human rights in a society wracked by terrorism and deep political conflict, detailing the numerous applications lodged at Strasbourg relating to the conflict and considering how they were dealt with by the enforcement bodies. The book illustrates the limitations inherent in the Convention system but also demonstrates how the European Commission and Court of Human Rights gradually developed a more interventionist approach to the applications emanating from Northern Ireland. In turn this allowed the Convention to become a more secure guarantor of basic rights and freedoms during times of extreme civil unrest and political turmoil elsewhere in Europe. The topics examined include the right to life, the right not to be ill-treated, the right to liberty, the right to a fair trial, the right to a private life, the right to freedom of belief, the right to freedom of expression, the right to freedom of assembly, and the right not to be discriminated against. The book argues that, while eventually the European Court did use the applications from Northern Ireland to establish important human rights principles, their development was slow and arduous and some gaps in protection still remain. The book illustrates the limits of the European Convention as a tool for protecting human rights in times of crisis.

Comprehensive overview of the Irish criminal justice system, its current problems and its vision for the future. Collection of essays by major office-holders, experienced practitioners, leading academics, legal scholars, sociologists, psychologists, philosophers and educationalists.

The Irish Yearbook of International Law is intended to stimulate further research into Ireland's practice in international affairs and foreign policy, filling a gap in existing legal scholarship and assisting in the dissemination of Irish thinking and practice on matters of international law. On an annual basis, the Yearbook presents peer-reviewed academic articles and book reviews on general issues of international law. Designated correspondents provide reports on international law developments in Ireland, Irish practice in international fora and the European Union, and the practice of joint North-South implementation bodies in Ireland. In addition, the Yearbook reproduces documents that reflect Irish practice on contemporary issues of international law. Publication of the Irish Yearbook of International Law makes Irish practice and opinio juris more readily available to Governments, academics and international bodies when determining the content of international law. In providing a forum for the documentation and analysis of North-South relations the Yearbook also makes an important contribution to post-conflict and transitional justice studies internationally. As a matter of editorial policy, the Yearbook seeks to promote a multilateral approach to international affairs, reflecting and reinforcing Ireland's long-standing commitment to multilateralism as a core element of foreign policy.

In the UK and elsewhere there has been growing recognition of detainee's vulnerability and the need for robust, independent mechanisms to protect them from ill-treatment. This view was given formal recognition by the United Nations when it adopted the Optional Protocol to the Convention against Torture and other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (OPCAT) and its ratification by the UK in 2003. The basic premise of OPCAT is that protections for those who are detained can be strengthened by a system of regular visits to all places of detention. OPCAT requires the designation of a national preventive mechanism (NPM) to carry out such visits and to monitor treatment. The UK NPM was established in March 2009 when it was decided that the functions of the mechanism would be fulfilled by the collective action of 18 existing bodies with the HM Inspectorate of Prisons as co-ordinator. This report is the first annual report from the NPM in the UK. It details the individual and collective activities of its members in the period 1 April 2009 to 31 March 2010. As well as providing background information on OPCAT and the role of the NPMs, it outlines the role of the individual members and their detention-related activities. The NPM also makes its first collective recommendation that the UK government identifies any places of detention not visited by the NPM and ensures that those gaps are addressed

This book provides an account and analysis of policing in Northern Ireland, providing an account and analysis of the RUC (Royal Ulster Constabulary) from the start of 'the troubles' in the 1960s to the early 1990s, through the uneasy peace that followed the 1994 paramilitary ceasefires (1994-1998), and then its transformation into the Police Service of Northern Ireland following the 1999 Patten Report. A major concern is with the reform process, and the way that the RUC has faced and sought to remedy a situation where it faced a chronic legitimacy deficit. Policing Northern Ireland focuses on three key aspects of the police legitimation process: reform measures which are implemented to redress a legitimacy crisis; representational strategies which are invoked to offer positive images of policing; and public responses to these various strategies. Several key questions are asked about the ways in which the RUC has sought to improve its standing amongst nationalists: first, what strategies of reform has the RUC implemented? second, what forms of representation has the RUC employed to promote and portray itself in the positive terms that might secure public support? third, how have nationalists responded to these initiatives? The theoretical framework and analysis developed in the book also highlights general issues relating to the implications of police legitimacy and illegitimacy for social conflict and divisions, and their management and/or resolution, in relation to transitional societies in particular. In doing so it makes a powerful contribution to wider current debates about police legitimacy, police-community relations, community resistance, and conflict resolution.

Organised Crime and the Law presents an overview of the laws and policies adopted to address the phenomenon of organised crime in the United Kingdom and Ireland, assessing the changes to these justice systems, in terms of the prevention, investigation, prosecution and punishment of such criminality. While the notion of organised crime is a contested one, States' legal responses treat it and its constituent offences as unproblematic in a definitional sense. This book advances a systematic doctrinal critique of these domestic criminal laws,laws of evidence and civil processes. Organised Crime and the Law focuses on the tension between due process and crime control, the demands of public protection and risk aversion, and other adaptations. In particular, it identifies parallels and points of divergence between the different jurisdictions in the UK and Ireland, bearing in mind the shared history of subversive threats and counter-terrorism policies. It also examines the extent to which policy transfer is evident in the UK and Ireland in terms of emulating the United States in reacting to organised crime.

Winner of the DSBA Practical Law Book of the Year Award 2020 This seventh edition provides comprehensive treatment of the key elements of the legal system in Ireland, including the roles and regulation of legal practitioners, the organisation of the courts and the judiciary, and an analysis of the main sources of Irish law and their application in practice. It is essential reading for law students in Ireland, and practitioners will find it of great value. The seventh edition has been fully updated to reflect recent key developments including: Fundamental reform of the legal profession under the Legal Services Regulation Act 2015, The commencement of the main regulatory powers of the Legal Services Regulatory Authority and the establishment of the Office of the Legal Costs Adjudicator; The increasing impact of information technology on the legal profession and the courts, accelerated in 2020 by the Covid-19 pandemic; The establishment of the Judicial Council under the Judicial Council Act 2019, and the roles of its committees; Discussion of the system for appointing judges; The establishment of the Court of Appeal and the resulting impact on the Supreme Court; The Mediation Act 2017 and alternative dispute resolution in civil cases; The doctrine of precedent, including important case law from the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court; Significant developments in making legislation more accessible online, and analysis of the case law on the interpretation of legislation; The impact of recent constitutional decisions, including case law on suspended declarations of unconstitutionality, and the constitutional amendments on marriage equality and abortion; Developments in EU law, including the potential impact of Brexit, and the growing impact on Irish law of more than 1,400 international agreements that Ireland has ratified.