Custodial Care Policy and Practice - Case Study Example

Names : xxxxxxxxxxx Institution : xxxxxxxxxxx Course : xxxxxxxxxxx Title : Custodial Care Policy and Practice Tutor : xxxxxxxxxxx Custodial Care Policy and Practice Introduction Basically, several organizations, groups and committees recommend the reforms they consider appropriate within the Irish prison system. The government reviews such recommendations and makes amendments where necessary to the prison system as well as to the penal policy. Such organizations aim at developing Irish penal structure that respects the rights of each and every stakeholder within the system and where being imprisoned is approved as the last resort. In this essay, the influence of the visiting committees, Human Rights Commission and the Prison Chaplains on the Irish penal policy will be analyzed. Visiting committees The visiting committees who have been appointed under Prisons (visiting committees) Act, 1925 has the power to observe such regulations made by the Minister under the Act and thus the visiting committees have the powers from time to time and at regular intermissions to make visits to prisons in respect of which they are chosen and there to listen to any complaints which might be made to them by any prisoner restrained in such prison and, if so asked for by the prisoner, to hear such complaint in confidential. The visiting committees also are entitled to report any abuse that they observe within Ireland prisons and also they report to the concerned minister any recommended changes they would like to be made within such prisons which might seem to them urgently required. The visiting committees also notify the minister regarding any issue connected to such prison on whereby the committee shall think it measure or shall have been called for by the Minister so to account (Carlen 2004). As a result, each visiting committee and each member thereof is entitled always to make visits within the Ireland prisons either jointly or independently. Therefore, each and every visiting committee have, subject to and according to the regulations made by the minister under the Act, perform the following activities in regard to the prisoners confined within the prisons in respect of which they are appointed. Award exceptional privileges to whichever prisoner as a incentive for good behavior or on account of ill-health or for other adequate cause; Grant unique punishment to any prisoner who is found guilty of a breach of prison authority. Hold investigations on oath into charges in opposition to prisoners regarding the violation of prison discipline. For instance, the Immigrant Council of Ireland lately made some recommendations to the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment while on visit at Irish. During the meeting, the Immigrant Council of Ireland focused on some legislative provisions for the immigrants who are detentioned within Irish with broad range of situations, in addition to the provisions that the council recommended in the Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008. The council also discussed and made some recommendations regarding the problems in supervising the welfare and circumstances of the migrants who are imprisoned because of not giving the legal information recorded by the Irish Prison Service as well as other agencies. Moreover, the ICI also has the capacity to make some proposals regarding the trafficking victims who are imprisoned and charged with immigration connected charges (Carrabine 2007). Human Rights Commission One organization that has an influence on the penal policy is the Human Rights Commission which mostly addresses human rights of all the prisoners. Human Rights Commission gives so much consideration of the human rights since they are important while considering all stages of the criminal procedure. The accused and the convicted also have human rights. It also attaches to the victims who are involved in the crime. Such rights come from the obligations appliances. In May 2007, the Criminal Justice Act got signed and as a result it came into law in Ireland. This legislation was passed by using the Dail and was signed by the president even if there was no public debate into its terms. This is noteworthy given that the legislation made extensive inroads into the right to non-self-incrimination and the presupposition against long pre-trial detention (Carlen 2004). Human Rights Commission therefore is able to affect the penal policy within Ireland because it is in a position to decide and make recommendations regarding the victim’s rights, prisoners’ rights as well as the ex-offenders rights. It is also bale to decide on if the prison is serving the role to which it has been given by the society. The main things that the Human Rights Commission is able to affect on the penal policy include: equal treatment devoid of any discrimination, the prisoners being free of any torment, brutal, inhuman treatments as well as treatment that is considered degrading. It also offers the accused the rights to defend themselves and offers the prisoners and the accused in addition to the victims the right to have privacy and family life. The main responsibility of Human Rights Commission within the Irish criminal justice policy is to ensure that a balance is there in safeguarding the people against arbitrary treatment by the State and defending the public and the victims. Moreover, Human rights commission looks into safeguarding the human rights of the people who are always involved within the criminal justice procedure. The Human Rights Commission asses the broader appliance of restorative justice in the Irish criminal justice structure. For example, it implements restorative programs which are in operation within Ireland for the juvenile offenders by using court referred Probation Service Conference and also programs that tackle the adult offenders within Tallaght. Through the Commission, the system has managed to successfully bring together the victims, offenders and even the community members to discuss the result for the offending behavior. For instance, instead of the offender being sentenced to a traditional term within prison, a jury can refer an offender to a restorative program where such discussion can take place. Moreover, the commission has been able to implement restorative justice for the mature offenders and this has availed a workable structure for the restorative justice within the Irish criminal justice system (O'Donnell 2003). The Human Rights Commission argues that when the freedom of movement of the prisoners is taken away, then the other individual rights as well as state of life should remain normal. It proposes that if prisons use is reduced, numerous reforms are established within the penal policy and human rights of the prisoners are respected, then the prisoners would not be enslaved within their own country. This has seen many reforms within the penal policy, like the prisoners being offered many rights and being treated well while in prison. Human rights Commission is one of the most significant devices of global law under which the treatment of prisons within custody within Ireland is assessed by a global human rights body. Any person within Ireland who deems that they are treated unfairly within prisons informs the commission against torture regarding such mistreatments. The commission then considers the reports and communicates any proposals concerning the legal structure within Ireland by giving concluding proposals to the government (Carmody & McEvoy 2006). Prisons chaplains The chaplains as pastoral cares also have great influence on Ireland penal policy. They are constantly pay special attention to the whole prison community. They make daily contacts with the offenders as well as their families to get the insight regarding the struggles and problems the prisoners face within the Irish prisons. The chaplains then communicate their recommendations regarding the improvements they seem practical within the prisons (O'Donnell 2003). For example, they continuously campaign for provision of necessary services and resources for the prisoners. The chaplains have been against the substantially rise of the prison spaces since they deemed that this will eventually lead to very many people being locked in prisons yet they should not. This has seen the prison authority consider their recommendations and this has avoided the prisons being full of the most susceptible societal members. The group recommends to the Irish government to review its penal policy and find practical options to the Irish prison system. It proposes the options that have a likelihood of incorporating reconciliation that can positively develop the victims, offenders including the entire community. The group for instance proposed restorative justice system to be used instead of imprisonment and this matter is being examined which is perceived to have a big impact within the debate on crime and imprisonment. The group actively campaigned against the padded cells and this led to the padded cells being closed. Moreover, safety observation cells were introduced together with the close observation cells. For the implementation of such developments, the chaplain group contributed a lot. Currently, the group is recommending such developments within Irish prisons. The group is against the imprisonment of mentally sick people. It has made some proposals for the docket’s minister to coordinate with the concerned prison agencies to make sure that the individuals suffering from mental diseases are not imprisoned. The group has strongly proposed that when the mentally sick offenders go in court they are supposed to be provided with the necessary psychiatric care in the community. The government is currently looking into this matter and if the minister deems this appropriate their recommendations will be put into place. Furthermore, the group argues that the prisons should always be in a position to respond to the requirements of the most susceptible group. The prisoners who require professional care should thus not be imprisoned, according to the group. Instead, the prisons are supposed to look for alternative of the prisons for the mentally ill criminals. According to the group, mentally ill persons should not be categorized as criminals. Therefore, such group influences the penal policy in that it is able to make some recommendations to the government regarding the reforms they deem appropriate. As a result, the government reviews such recommendations and if practical, they are implemented (Mahony 2005). Bibliography Carlen, P., 2004, Sledgehammer: Women’s detention at the Millennium, Macmillan, Basingstoke. Carmody, P. & McEvoy, M., 2006, Evaluation of Irish Female Prisoners, Stationery Office, Dublin. Carrabine, E., 2007, "Discourse, Governmentality and Translation: Towards a Social Theory of Imprisonment ", Theoretical Criminology, Vol, 4/3. May, J., 2006, Committee of Inquiry into the United Kingdom Prison Services Report, Stationery Office, London. O'Donnell, I., 2003, "Interpreting Crime Trends" Irish Criminal Law Journal, Vol, 12/1. Mahony, P., 2005, Prison Policy in Ireland. Criminal Justice versus Social Justice, Cork University Press, Cork. Read More