The ACJRD 26th Annual Conference 2023

The ACJRD 26th Annual Conference, Accountability and Monitoring in the Criminal Justice System, took place on Friday, 9th June 2023. 

See Programme information below

 

Accountability to society in general, and to participants in the criminal justice system, enhances public respect for the institutions and agencies who are entrusted with the delivery of justice, within a human rights framework.

The Public Sector Equality and Human Rights Duty requires public bodies, in the performance of their functions, to have regard to the need to eliminate discrimination, promote equality and protect human rights of staff and people availing of their services.

Independent auditing of the responsibility entrusted to these sectors of our society where citizens have safety and justice delivered equitably, necessitates systematic review through monitoring.

In this full day conference, we considered accountability and monitoring of policing, victim support, sentencing, prisons and parole during plenary sessions. In breakout sessions we had presentations and discussion of themes that included discrete areas of diversity, the role of evidence-based data and knowledge, and some current innovative developments.

Our annual conference was aimed at those working in government agencies and in the community to include policymakers, practitioners, academics, civil society and a wide range of disciplines that focus on the victims and perpetrators of crime either within or tangential to the Criminal Justice System.

Chatham House Rule
To encourage openness and the sharing of information, the Chatham House Rule will be invoked at this conference.

The Chatham House Rule reads as follows: "When a meeting, or part thereof, is held under the Chatham House Rule, participants are free to use the information received, but neither the identity nor the affiliation of the speaker(s), nor that of any other participant, may be revealed".

See: https://www.chathamhouse.org/about-us/chatham-house-rule

 

Programme: The ACJRD 26th Annual Conference

To view a PDF of the Conference Programme, please click here.

Copies of the speakers' presentations, where available, can be viewed by clicking on the presentation titles below.

Plenary Sessions

  • The Potential of the Public Sector Equality and Human Rights Duty Chief Commissioner, Sinead Gibney, Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (IHREC)
  • Oversight of Policing in Ireland - Opportunities and Challenges Ahead Commissioner Emily Logan, Garda Síochána Ombudsman Commission
  • An Overview of the Istanbul Convention Ellen O’Malley Dunlop, Council of Europe’s GRIEVO Committee
  • Criminal Justice, Sentencing & Public Confidence Professor Cyrus Tata, Director Centre for Law, Crime and Justice, University of Strathclyde, Scotland
  • Parole: protecting the community, fair to applicants and listening to victims Ciairín de Buis, Chief Executive Officer, Parole Board
  • Inspections and Investigations in Places of Detention and Imprisonment Mark Kelly, Chief Inspector of Prisons

Thematic Session One: Customised Accountability for Diverse Cohorts in the CJS

  • The Bail Supervision Scheme Janice Hickey, Manager/MST Supervisor Bail Supervision Scheme, Cork
  • Collaborating with Communities to Respond to Offending by Women Rachel Lillis, APPO for Social Inclusion & Reintegration, Probation Service, with a Community Partner
  • Access to Rights for People Detained in Secure Forensic Mental Health Facilities in Ireland Professor Eilionóir Flynn, School of Law NUI Galway

Thematic Session Two: Management and Use of Knowledge, Data and Research

  • Measuring what matters, counting what counts’: the introduction of organisation scorecards across the Irish Prison Service Caroline Finn, Assistant Principal, IGEES Policy Analyst at Irish Prison Service
  • Addressing Data Deficits on Ethnicity in the CJS and Challenging Hate Crime Andrew O’Sullivan, Chief Information Officer, An Garda Síochána
  • Using Data to Support Outcomes Gurchand Singh, Head of Data Analytics, Department of Justice Data Analytics

Thematic Session Three: Innovation in Supporting Accountability

A Conference Report is being prepared for publication at a later date.