A FAIR and transparent system for complaints within the prisons is necessary, according to the Inspector of Prisons.
Judge Michael Reilly told the annual joint Law Society/Human Rights Commission human rights conference at the weekend that he had been asked by the Minister for Justice to prepare a new complaints model and hoped to do so by the end of the year.
The theme of the conference was the United Nations’ Universal Period Review of Ireland’s human rights record, which took place earlier this month in Geneva.
The treatment of prisoners and the position of women were among the main topics to emerge at the review, where Ireland answered questions posed by other countries, prepared with the assistance of NGOs.
Judge Reilly stressed that prisoners retain all rights that are not lawfully taken away by the decision to send them to prison.
A penalty of “loss of privileges” exists in the disciplinary system, ranging from loss of contact with family to loss of recreation.
“These, I wish to point out in the strongest possible terms, are not privileges, but rights,” he said. They could not be taken away without just cause and due process.
Anastasia Crickley of NUI Maynooth and the UN Committee for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, who gave the keynote address, said the Universal Period Review offered a unique opportunity to bring together a variety of different issues and link them.
She pointed out that 15 per cent of the population was now migrants, 11 per cent had a disability and 10 per cent were older.
Ms Crickley added that it was also important to recognise the “economic exclusion” represented by those forced to emigrate, and she warned against disguising this by describing emigration as an “experience”.
It was important to have independent and adequately resourced civil society organisations.
An enhanced and independent Human Rights and Equality Commission should involve consultation and participation in its development; independent appointments; sufficient power, remit, resources and capacity to innovate; ongoing engagement with stakeholders and NGOs, and parity of esteem for different approaches, traditions and disciplines in the area of human rights.
It should be answerable to an Oireachtas committee and go beyond the “legal pyramid” and ownership by institutions, Ms Crickley added.
Susan McKay, chief executive of the National Women’s Council, appealed for clarity on the Government’s approach to abortion.
She said it was sending out mixed messages about how it intended to implement the judgment of the European Court of Human Rights on the A, B and C case.
This required the Government to legislate to implement the Supreme Court ruling in the X case almost 20 years ago, which permitted abortion in cases where the mother’s life is in danger.