Irish Govt announces new Prisoner Complaints system

The Irish Minister for Justice and Equality has accepted proposals by the Inspector of Prisons for a complaints system, where investigation of serious complaints will be carried out by external investigators, with an appeal to the inspector. The Inspector of Prisons Judge Michael Reilly compiled a report setting out a suggested prisoner complaints model for Irish prisons. This report considered issues such as the essential elements of a good complaints system, and the importance of a good complaints system.

In the report, the Inspector says that the issue of prisoner complaints is different to that of prisoner grievances - and that it would not be satisfactory to to say that there is an effective complaints system in place when considering the issue of prisoner abuse/grievances. The report identifies essential elements of a good complaints system as including:

• confidentiality and avoiding risk of identification;
• accessability - the process must be easily understood by staff and prisoners, complaint forms should be freely available within prisons, and assistance must be available to prisoners with literacy or other problems;
• mechanisms to compel officers and others to co-operate and answer questions, whilst still retaining their legal rights;
• procedures for oral hearings should be in place for more serious complaints, and an appeal process should be available for complaints that are not upheld. 

The Irish Penal Reform Trust has given a “cautious welcome” to the proposed system. Executive Director of the IPRT Liam Herrick stated that, “IPRT has consistently identified the need for an effective system where prisoners can raise complaints about their treatment as an essential safeguard against abuse and mistreatment within the prison system…IPRT believes that the best model for independent investigation of complaints is a Prisoner Ombudsman…However, regardless of the model chosen, the key substantive test is whether the system is independent of prison management and whether it enjoys the confidence of the prison population. The Inspector of Prisons’ recommendations contain all of the necessary elements for a robust and effective complaints process”.

Click here to read the Inspector of Prisons’ report.

Click here to read a press release from the IPRT on the development.