IPRT briefing to the Committee for the Prevention of Torture (CPT)

2nd April 2024

Irish Penal Reform Trust (IPRT) has prepared and submitted a detailed briefing to inform the upcoming periodic visit to Ireland by the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment (CPT).

Given the confidential nature (in principle) of the CPT’s work and the sensitivity of some of the matters raised in the briefing, neither the briefing itself nor an overview of its content will be made publicly available.

As with previous CPT visits, we expect that the report arising from the periodic visit will be both a crucial insight into current prison conditions and a key lever to drive reform, particularly at a time of unprecedented prison overcrowding.

While the periodic visit is scheduled to take place in 2024, at the time of writing, the dates of the periodic visit are unknown. IPRT looks forward to further engagement with the CPT and to productive dialogue between the State and the CPT delegation surrounding the periodic visit.
 

Relevant outputs arising from the CPT’s 2019 periodic visit to Ireland

• CPT: Report to the Government of Ireland on the visit to Ireland carried out by the CPT in 2019 (2020)
• CPT: Response of the Government of Ireland to the report of the (CPT) on its visit to Ireland in 2019 (2020)
• IPRT: Press release in response to CPT report – ACTION ON TREATMENT OF MENTALLY ILL PRISONERS ONE OF THE “MOST PRESSING ISSUES WITHIN IRISH PRISONS” (2020)
• IPRT: CPT Report – Summary of Critical Issues (2020)