2019

Jacqui Durkin has begun her appointment as the new Chief Inspector of Criminal Justice in Northern Ireland by paying tribute to her predecessor and looking forward to the challenges of the role.

 

Outgoing CJI Chief Inspector Brendan McGuigan has highlighted the importance and challenges of ensuring prisoner safety in Northern Ireland.

CJI’s Chief Inspector Brendan McGuigan has welcomed the progress made by the Public Protection Arrangements Northern Ireland (PPANI) in a new inspection report.
 

CJI’s Chief Inspector Brendan McGuigan has welcomed the appointment of Jacqui Durkin as his successor with effect from 30 November 2019.
 

CJI has published the findings of a review of the pre-release testing arrangements operated by the Northern Ireland Prison Service. 
 

CJI has published the findings of a review of the pre-release testing arrangements operated by the Northern Ireland Prison Service. 
 

United Nations experts are preparing a report on detention after concluding a 12-day visit to the United Kingdom during which they visited a number of different locations and places of detention.
 

A new CJI inspection report looking at Policing and Community Safety Partnerships (PCSPs) has found improvements in their operation five years after the publication of CJI’s initial inspection findings.

James Corrigan, Deputy Chief Inspector with CJI welcomed the reduction of administration costs and work ongoing to support local communities.

But he indicated there was room for further development in terms of the PCSPs’ public profile, governance and operational arrangements.

To support further progress Mr Corrigan said CJI Inspectors have made a number of recommendations which if implemented, would help to bring PCSPs closer to delivering the meaningful accountability and partnership between the community and the Police Service of Northern Ireland envisioned as part of the new beginning for policing within the Patten Report when it was published in 1999.
 

Today CJI Inspectors are joined by colleagues from the Probation Board for Northern Ireland (PBNI) to commence a two day training workshop delivered by Her Majesty’s Inspectorate of Probation (HMI Probation) in England and Wales.  The workshop is part of the preparations for CJI’s forthcoming inspection of probation practice in Northern Ireland.  The three organisations recently worked together to develop a bespoke inspection methodology to enable assessments to be undertaken of the quality of practice in Northern Ireland relation to cases supervised by PBNI.  At the end of the two day session CJI Inspectors and PBNI Area Managers, who have been selected to be Local Assessors for the inspection, will have been trained in the methodology in preparation for working alongside Inspectors from HMI Probation as part of the inspection team undertaking fieldwork in the Autumn.  This innovative partnership approach will ensure the inspection appropriately assesses practice in a local context.  It will also ensure probation staff are well placed to take forward the organisational learning resulting from the inspection to support the further development of probation practice.

The Department of Justice (DoJ) has launched a competition to appoint a new Chief Inspector of Criminal Justice for Northern Ireland.

The position is widely viewed as one of the most challenging positions within the public sector in Northern Ireland.  Further details on the role, candidate information packs and application forms may be obtained by accessing the Public Appointments page of the Department of Justice website - www.justice-ni.gov.uk/
 
Candidates can also email [email protected]; telephone 028 9016 9537, or apply in writing to Chief Inspector CJI Appointment Team, Legacy and Justice Transformation Branch, Massey House, Stormont Estate, Belfast BT4 3SX.

Applications for the post, which has been advertised both locally and nationally, close at 12 noon on Friday 9 August 2019.

CJI's Chief Executive James Corrigan, has today published the 2018-19 Annual Report and Accounts for CJI. Copies of the report can be downloaded by clicking on the link.

CJI’s Chief Inspector Brendan McGuigan has called for further action to be taken by the criminal justice system to improve how cases of domestic violence and abuse are handled.
 

This week CJI are hosting a Senior OPCAT Inspector, Emma Roebuck, from the New Zealand Office of the Ombudsman...

CJI’s Chief Executive James Corrigan has today unveiled the Inspectorate’s Business Plan for 2019-20. 
 

CJI’s latest inspection report on the contribution of the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector to the criminal justice system has reported that short term funding is creating instability for bodies providing support services...
 

CJI’s latest inspection report on the contribution of the voluntary, community and social enterprise sector to the criminal justice system has reported that short term funding is creating instability for bodies providing support services...
 

Representatives from the UK National Preventative Mechanism (NPM) will be appearing in Geneva today (6 May 2019) to provide evidence for the 66th session of the Committee against Torture...
 

CJI’s Deputy Chief Inspector James Corrigan has welcomed the progress made by the Youth Justice Agency to implement recommendations aimed at improving how youth conferences are delivered...

CJI has published the Terms of Reference for its review of the methods used by the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) to disclose information in respect of historic cases linked to the ‘Troubles’ to the Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland (OPONI).

The UK National Preventative Mechanism (NPM), of which CJI is a member, has published its submission to the Committee Against Torture’s (CAT) sixth periodic review of the UK.  The UK National NPM is made up of 21 bodies that monitor all types of detention in the UK.  CJI contributed to this submission along with other NPM members.  The review will take place on 7-8 May 2019 in Geneva and the representatives of the NPM will give evidence jointly with the three UK human rights commissions and the Scottish children’s commissioner.  The submission to the CAT is now available on the UK NPM website under ‘publications’ https://www.nationalpreventivemechanism.org.uk/

Rachel Lindsay, who represents CJI in the UK National Preventative Mechanism (NPM), is attending an NPM event this afternoon hosted by the IMB Secretariat.  The NPM Assistant Co-ordinator will be presenting on the work of the UK NPM and Rachel will be contributing to the discussion in relation to her membership of the NPM Steering Group and CJI’s role as an NPM member.  

Brendan McGuigan CBE will speak at the NSPCC Young Witness Service conference at the Belfast Harbour Commissioners Office on Friday 29 March.  The conference will address the subject of ‘Safeguarding young witnesses in the criminal justice system’.

The event will mark the 20th anniversary of the Young Witness Service and will bring together Sir John Gillen as keynote speaker, alongside guest speakers including Stephen Herron, Director PPS, Tim Mairs ACC PSNI, Brian Grzymek DoJ and The Lighthouse service in London.
 

The Chief Inspector of Criminal Justice in Northern Ireland Brendan McGuigan CBE has confirmed that CJI will undertake a review into the methods the Police Service of Northern Ireland use to disclose information in respect of historic cases to the Office of the Police Ombudsman for Northern Ireland following a request received from the Department of Justice.
 
Terms of reference for the review will be drafted and when agreed, made publicly available.

“This work will be progressed as quickly as possible taking into account existing commitments to on-going inspection work,” said Mr McGuigan, who added he hoped the work would be completed within six months. 

The findings of the review will be laid in the Northern Ireland Assembly and published when completed.
 

CJI Inspectors have this week commenced work to review progress against recommendations made in its Driving Change inspection which looked at the enforcement of road traffic legislation in Northern Ireland.