IPRT Submission to the Irish Prison Service Public Consultation on the Review of Prison Rules

5th November 2021

IPRT welcomes the Irish Prison Service (IPS) decision to review and update the Prison Rules 2007, and particularly welcomes the public consultation held in respect of this review.

The drafting of the Prison Rules 2007, and the subsequent amendments made to those Rules over the years, has historically been an internal government process, driven by the Department of Justice and the Irish Prison Service with little external oversight. This review, and the much more transparent way in which the review is to be run, is welcomed by IPRT. However, IPRT does have concerns about the review. IPRT believes that the strongest possible mechanism for a review of the Rules lies externally of the Irish Prison Service and the Department of Justice. For example, the Mental Health Commission (MHC) – a regulatory body – produces the guidance and standards for mental health services, rather than the services themselves developing the relevant rules.

This submission supplements the brief general remarks made by IPRT on 30th September 2021 (attached at Appendix 1 of the submission), and provides detailed proposed changes in respect of a number of specific rules.

In this submission, IPRT lays out the proposed change to a Rule, followed by the rationale underpinning the reason for this change. The submission, however, does not address each and every rule in its entirety. IPRT has taken the opportunity to address the key areas within the Rules that we consider in need of reform, and which fall within our particular expertise. In reviewing the Rules, we have been guided by the standards set out in IPRT’s Progress in the Penal System (PIPS) reports.

The full submission with our proposed changes can be accessed below, but the following general points apply to our submission:

1.  Much of the language used in the current Prison Rules is overly conditional and generalised. The Rules are littered with phrases such as “in so far as is practicable” and “subject to the maintenance of good order and safe and secure custody” and “wherever possible” etc. These types of phrases should be removed or at least used sparingly, only where exceptions may be reasonable.
2. There are many examples where the protections provided to prisoners could be strengthened by a requirement that the Governor (or relevant individual responsible for making a decision or carrying out an action) record in writing the reasons for their decision and/or the efforts made to carry out the action.
3. In updating the Prison Rules, it is important to ensure that they are – to the greatest possible extent – accessible to prisoners in terms of the language used. This is in addition to the production of a “plain English” version of the revised Prison Rules in due course.
4. The review should consider the significant research that has been done on trauma-informed practices since the 2007 Rules were first implemented, and the devising of the new rules should be guided by such practice. This is work that the IPS has already started, e.g. see reference to developing a “best fit model of trauma informed correctional care” in the IPS Strategic Plan 2019-2022, and this update provides a unique opportunity to fully embed such practices within the prison system.

Read the IPRT Submission to the Irish Prison Service Public Consultation on the Review of Prison Rules here or download it below.