2017

CJI's latest inspection report has called for the PSNI to take further steps to enhance its response to business crime in Northern Ireland.  View Report Page.

CJI's Deputy Chief Inspector James Corrgian has called for criminal justice organisations to change how they measure and report their performance. View Report page.

CJI's Chief Inspector Brendan McGuigan is to oversee the work of the Office of the Prisoner Ombudsman for Northern Ireland from 1 September 2017.  Mr McGuigan will undertake the duties on a temporary basis until a successor to the outgoing Ombudsman Tom McGonigle can be appointed.

CJI has published the findings of its latest unannounced review of Maghaberry Prison following an unannounced two day inspection carried out in April 2017 by Inspectors from CJI, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons (HMIP), the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) and Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI). View report page.
 

Brendan McGuigan has voiced his support for the introduction of the mutual recognition of driver disqualifications between the UK and Ireland which has came into force today. View press release.

Today is Nelson Mandela International Day.  CJI uses the Nelson Mandela Rules in its work as part of the UK National Preventative Mechanism (NPM) in monitoring detention in prisons.  A blog by the Association for the Prevention of Torture, published today, highlights the work of the UK NPM in putting the Nelson Mandela Rules into practice. The blog can be read by clicking on the link. 

You can read more about CJI's work as part of the UK NPM by clicking here. 

Fieldwork for our Equality and Diversity inspection will continue over the next few months.  If you haven’t already contacted us and would like to take part you can still register your interest by email to [email protected]. To view the Terms of reference please click on the link.

Fieldwork for our Equality and Diversity inspection will continue over the next few months.  If you haven’t already contacted us and would like to take part you can still register your interest by email to [email protected]. To view the Terms of reference please click on the link.

CJI Chief Inspector Brendan McGuigan has called on the PSNI to take steps to better understand the challenge and scale of the threat posed by Cyber Crime in Northern Ireland. View Inspection Report Page.

Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland has this morning commenced an unannounced inspection of Magilligan prison. The two-week inspection will run from 12 - 23 June 2017 and will involve teams of inspectors from CJI, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons in England and Wales (HMIP), the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) and the Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI).  A full report of the outcomes of the inspection will be published in due course.

CJI will commence the next stage of the fieldwork on Monday 12 June 2017 for the inspections of sexual and domestic violence and abuse.  With the support of colleagues from Her Majesty's Crown Prosecution Inspectorate, CJI will undertake a case file review of cases received by the Public Prosecution Services relating to serious sexual offences and cases of domestic abuse.  Fieldwork with stakeholder organisations is continuing.

Cyber crime is a relatively recent phenomenon, the prevalence of which increased markedly in recent years. It is a matter of public concern and is regularly the subject of local and national news reports. Criminal Justice Inspectors have completed an inspection of how the criminal justice system deals with cyber crime in Northern Ireland and will publish their findings when a new Minister of Justice is appointed. The report will be published on our website at www.cjini.org in due course.

CJI has in conjunction with its partners recently carried out a second low impact inspection of Maghaberry Prison.  The visits are designed to support and review progress in implementing the changes required at Maghaberry recommended following the publication of its May 2015 inspection report.  The two day visit took place between 3-4 April 2017 and involved a small team of inspectors from CJI, Her Majesty's Inspectorate of Prisons in England and Wales (HMIP), the Regulation and Quality Improvement Authority (RQIA) and the Education and Training Inspectorate (ETI). The outcomes of the inspection will be published in due course. 

CJI Inspectors have commenced a scoping study to inform the terms of reference for an upcoming inspection of the “provision of services by the Voluntary, Community and Social Enterprise sector to the Criminal Justice Sector”.
 

CJINI Inspectors are commencing stakeholder fieldwork for an Inspection of prisoner resettlement. Resettlement is the process of preparing prisoners for their release back into the community and effectively helping them to reduce their likelihood of re-offending. Inspectors will be engaging with a number of organisations who work in this area to gather evidence that will inform the Inspection. We would be interested to hear the views of any organisations or individuals who are interested prisoner resettlement. If you would like to contribute to this Inspection, please contact the inspection team at [email protected]
 

Inspectors have today commenced a scoping exercise to develop a Terms of Reference for the forthcoming inspection of the Public Protection Arrangements Northern Ireland (PPANI).  Inspectors will meet with representatives from the criminal justice agencies who sit on the PPANI Strategic Management Board in order to identify the key issues which need to be considered during the inspection.  Once the Terms of Reference have been developed, Inspectors will then commence a stakeholder consultation with organisations who have an interest in this area.  Any organisations or individuals who are interested in contributing to this important work should contact the inspection team via CJI's Information Manager using our [email protected] email address.

Chief Inspector Brendan McGuigan and members of the Inspection Team hosted a group of undergraduates from Canterbury Christ Church University in Kent to discuss the purpose of inspection and the challenges facing policing.
 
The group were undertaking a four-day study visit to Northern Ireland to observe the numerous differences in policing and the criminal justice system in England and Wales and Northern Ireland. 
 
"CJI was delighted to meet with the students from Canterbury Christ Church University and hope they found their visit to CJI to be both interesting and informative," said Mr McGuigan.

Chief Inspector Brendan McGuigan and Inspector Bill Priestley attended Ulster University at Jordanstown on 25 April where they delivered a lecture to a range of Crime and Criminal Justice students outlining the work of CJI and the current and future challenges facing the Justice system in Northern Ireland. 
 
Brendan McGuigan then presented CJI awards to the student who had submitted  the best Crime and Criminal justice dissertation and the best second year performer. 

This week Inspectors commence stakeholder fieldwork for two public protection inspections in the areas of domestic violence and abuse and sexual violence and abuse.  Inspectors will meet with a range of stakeholder organisations who work in the areas of victim support and advocacy and/or are represented on the DOJ/DOH Stopping domestic and sexual violence and abuse strategy Stakeholder Assurance Group.  Through this work Inspectors intend to seek to engage with victims of these type of offences to hear, first hand, their experience of the criminal justice system.  Any organisations or individuals who are interested in contributing to this important work should contact the inspection team by email to [email protected].

CJI Inspectors are undertaking a study visit today to Leeds to find out about the approach to addressing domestic violence and abuse in the area.  Inspectors will visit HALT, a charity who work with high risk victims of domestic abuse to reduce their risk of further harm and increase their safety and run the Leeds IDVA (Independent Domestic Violence Advocate) service.  Inspectors will also meet with representatives of Yorkshire and Humberside Crown Prosecution Service and West Yorkshire Police to find out about work they have been undertaking to undertake the conviction rates for domestic abuse offences. 
 

The Inspection into Equality and Diversity monitoring across the Criminal Justice System has entered the fieldwork phase.  Please click here to see a copy of the Inspection terms of reference.  Inspectors will be speaking with agency representatives and stakeholders in the coming weeks but if you would like to register an interest in contributing to the Inspection please get in touch using our [email protected] email address

The National Preventive Mechanism (NPM) which monitors detention facilities across the UK has today published its Seventh Annual Report and the findings of a data mapping project regarding the detention population.  Copies of the NPM press release,  Annual Report and the detention population can be downloaded from the NPM website www.nationalpreventivemechanism.org.uk.