Prisons

A female prison officer with 25 years' service with the Irish Prison Service has been awarded €20,000 in the Workplace Relations Commission after it was found that she had been discriminated against on the grounds of gender. Finding that gender discrimination had occurred when the officer had b

Prime Minister Boris Johnson has unveiled plans to "overhaul the criminal justice system" in England and Wales by reviewing sentencing policy, investing £2.5 billion in the construction of new prisons, and strengthening police stop-and-search powers. A review team reporting back to Mr Johnson

The High Court will hear a judicial review over conditions at Portlaoise Prison next month. Ms Justice Teresa Pilkington yesterday granted permission to Frederick 'Freddie' Thompson, 39, to bring the challenge, which she made returnable to a date in September, The Irish Times reports.

A show garden created by prisoners in Maghaberry Prison has won a National Trust Gold Award. Using a range of recycled materials and bedding plants grown in the maximum security facility, 14 prisoners built the garden which features a train – the Maghaberry Flyer – and track, reflecting

New figures revealing that the number of women prisoners in Northern Ireland has reached a five-year high have sparked calls for the establishment of a dedicated women's prison. As of this month, there are 84 women prisoners in Northern Ireland, most of them accommodated in Ash House at Hydebank Woo

Republicans in Maghaberry Prison have launched a legal challenge for access to the prison library. Prisoners on the Roe House wing of the facility are currently not allowed to visit the library or withdraw books.

The Inspector of Prisons, Patricia Gilheaney, has warned that regular prison inspections are not taking place because of inadequate resources. In half of Ireland's ten closed prisons, no inspections have been conducted in a decade, Ms Gilheaney told Today with Sean O'Rourke, the Irish Examiner repor

More prisoners in England and Wales will have the opportunity to access employment and training following an expansion of the release on temporary license (ROTL) scheme. Offenders in open and women's prisons will now be eligible for paid work as soon as they have passed a "tough" risk assessment.

Northern Ireland's justice system is increasingly being used as a service of last resort for people with mental health issues, according to a new report. The Comptroller and Auditor General, Kieran Donnelly, published his report on Mental Health in the Criminal Justice System to coincide with Mental

The Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS) has announced a review of access to books within Northern Ireland prisons following a public controversy. Dr Marisa McGlinchey criticised the service after it emerged that prisoners were not allowed copies of her recently-published book, Unfinished Business

Penal reform campaigners have voiced concern over a decline in the number of prisoners being admitted to a successful rehabilitation programme. The number of prisoners taking part in the Community Return Scheme has stayed at around 50 all year, despite being over 100 since 2015, The Irish Times repo

A former law lecturer who is serving ten years' imprisonment in Arbour Hill Prison for sexual offences has successfully argued that there was a want of fair procedures in a disciplinary hearing which resulted in his phone and visitation privileges being denied for 30 days. In deciding to sanction th

The Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) has announced the appointment of Fíona Ní Chinnéide as its new executive director.

The Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS) has apologised to a solicitor who was asked to remove a lapel badge for Irish language speakers before entering Maghaberry Prison. Jim McGinnis, head of the prison law department at Carlin Solicitors, was asked to remove the badge while going through securi

The Irish prison population grew by nearly two percent between 2016 and 2018 while the overall imprisonment rate in Europe fell by nearly seven per cent, new figures reveal. The Council of Europe's Annual Penal Statistics for 2018 (SPACE), published yesterday, reveals that a downwards trend in Europ