NCJ Number
183403
Date Published
March 2000
Length
457 pages
Annotation
A review and 294 recommendations for improving the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland were put forth as a result of the Agreement reached in Belfast, Northern Ireland, on Good Friday of 1998.
Abstract
The review focused on the structure, management, and resourcing of publicly funded elements of the criminal justice system; appointments to the judiciary and magistracy; the organization and supervision of the prosecution process; the responsiveness and accountability of any lay participation in the criminal justice system. Other topics included mechanisms for addressing law reform, the scope for structured cooperation between criminal justice agencies in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland, and the structure and organization of criminal justice functions that might be devolved to an assembly. The review group consisted of four civil servants and five independent assessors. The group held more than 45 days of plenary meetings, received position papers and briefings, analyzed recent legislative developments and publications, and met with representatives of many groups, and visited courthouses. The 294 recommended actions included making human rights issues a permanent part of training programs for criminal justice personnel and others and making a single independent prosecuting authority responsible for all prosecutions currently conducted by the police and the Director of Public Prosecutions. Also recommended were the development of a judiciary that reflects the religious and ethnic background and gender of Northern Ireland society, the establishment of court user groups across Northern Ireland, and making restorative justice a central part of the formal criminal justice process for juveniles. Additional recommendations, tables and appended background information and list of additional reports