Alongside Fair Trials Europe and our international project partners, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties will launch their FLIGHTRISK Report on Tuesday, 7 May 2024.
This report comes at a time when Ireland continues to hold a disproportionate number of accused persons in pre-trial detention. While the COVID-19 pandemic saw a marginal decrease (3.7%) in numbers of persons held in custody generally from 2019 to 2020, there was an increase of people held in pre-trial detention.
There has been a 21% increase in the daily average number of people held in pre-trial detention since 2017. On 1st April 2021 the number of people held in pre-trial detention was 428. By 4th April 2022, this number more than doubled to 884.
In 2015 14.2% of the prison population was being held in pre-trial detention, jumping to 18.9% by 2020. A total of 7,043 persons were committed to prison in 2022, with 2,697 of those on remand. At the end of 2022 the proportion of remand trial prisoners in custody one year or more was 12% compared with 6% at the start of 2020. The pandemic also saw the suspension of jury trials, adding further to an already existing backlog.
2020 saw an increase in the average duration of remand. In December 2020, 11.5% of all remand prisoners had been on remand for a duration of one year or more, compared with 6% in December 2019.
There is also an increase of those remanded in pre-trial custody for less serious crime. Since 2016, there has been a 56% increase in the number of people imprisoned while awaiting trial or sentencing for “public order offences and other social code offences”.
Speakers include:
- Prof. Mary Rogan, Trinity College Dublin
- Chryssa Mela, Fair Trials Europe
- Niamh McCormack, Irish Council for Civil Liberties.
You are invited to celebrate the launch of the Report, meet the authors and partners in the FLIGHTRISK Project, and join us in a discussion on the findings of the Report.
The event will run from 10am to 1pm. Registration begins at 9:30am, and lunch will be provided.
To attend, please register via EventBrite.
Please find below a copy of the event agenda.
We look forward to seeing you on the 7th of May.