January - March

Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland (CJI) has today published its Annual Report and Accounts for 2015-16.  View report

CJI has published the full report of an announced inspection of Maghaberry Prison carried out January 2016 by a multi-disciplinary inspection team. which repeats the initial findings made public in February this year. View report page

CJI's Chief Inspector Brendan McGuigan has revealed Maghaberry Prison has stabilised seven months after the prison was found to be unsafe and unstable. Mr McGuigan welcomed the action taken by the Northern Ireland Prison Service to start addressing the serious concerns raised in May 2015 but warned progress was 'fragile' and a 'significant amount of work remained outstanding. View report page.

A follow up review of how life and indeterminate sentenced prisoners are managed in Northern Ireland has highlighted the importance of collaboration between local prison and probation services.  View report page.

The use of solitary confinement and isolation has been highlighted in the National Preventive Mechanism's (NPM's) sixth annual report.  The 20 NPM members across the United Kingdom -  which include CJI - found the practice was often inconsistently used and involved poor regimes for detained individuals and inadequate safeguards.   View press release. View NPM 14-15 annual report.  View NPM website