Delivering and maintaining justice services

Richard Pengelly, Permanent Secretary at the Department of Justice, discusses the challenges facing the justice sector in Northern Ireland and how the Department will endeavour to deliver and maintain services in the years ahead.

Whilst the last number of years have been challenging for many reasons, not least due to Covid-19, the Department of Justice and its agencies continued to demonstrate determination, drive, and resilience to maintain essential services safely.

This included delivering an effective justice system and supporting local communities in addition to producing significant policy and legislation.

The Department of Justice provides a crucial role to people within our society and as we move further forward into 2023 there will continue to be many challenges for the justice sector as a whole.

Our departmental plan, which is cognisant of budget restrictions, lays out our intentions for the three-year period from 2022 to 2025 and is an ambitious plan to advance the justice agenda.

The plan focuses on the four themes, pertinent to the Northern Ireland justice sector, and enables us to focus our efforts where they are most required:

• support safe and resilient communities;
• address harm and vulnerability;
• challenge offending behaviours and support rehabilitation; and
• deliver an effective justice system.

“The Department remains committed to challenging and addressing societal attitudes and behaviours that contribute to domestic and sexual abuse in our society.” Richard Pengelly, Permanent Secretary at the Department of Justice

One of the main focuses of the Department is providing additional safeguards and support to some of the most vulnerable people in our society, including victims of domestic and sexual abuse, and exploitation.

Work to implement provisions contained within the significant legislative programme introduced in the last mandate is continuing. This includes preparing for the introduction of new domestic abuse protection notices and orders and stalking protection orders, as well as new offences of non-fatal strangulation, adults masquerading as a child, upskirting, downblousing, and cyberflashing.

The Department remains committed to challenging and addressing societal attitudes and behaviours that contribute to domestic and sexual abuse in our society. Tackling domestic and sexual abuse continues to be a priority as indicated by recent public consultations on significant strategies such as modern slavery and human trafficking; and a new domestic and sexual abuse strategy, which will span a seven-year period.

Both challenges have the potential to affect and impact on each and every one of us in society and the consultation processes enable all interested parties to have their say and shape the future of the strategies and in doing so to also make a contribution towards ending gender-based violence more widely.

The Department has also been progressing work to implement recommendations aimed at improving the criminal justice system response to addressing hate crime in law and providing redress to victims and survivors.

In developing a future hate crime bill, a phase one public consultation has been completed on several proposals relating to how hate crime is addressed from investigation to conviction and elements of stirring up hatred offences. Work on policy development for themes to be included in phase two of the consultation has also commenced with the intention of consulting on these issues in 2023, subject to the return of ministers.

These initiatives will build on the extensive provision the Department already makes through legal aid to facilitate access to justice for the most vulnerable in society.

There continues to be progress on the Northern Ireland Courts and Tribunals Service’s Vision 2030 modernisation programme. This is aimed at modernising our courts and tribunals and is being progressed alongside efforts to speed up our justice system.

The past few years have been particularly challenging for prisons in Northern Ireland, with the pandemic having a profound impact on the Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS). Despite these challenges, the NIPS maintained levels of service that kept those in our care as safe as possible from Covid-19. The professionalism and dedication of those staff is evident and I applaud them for their efforts. There is, of course, work to be done to return our systems to pre-Covid levels and there are ongoing efforts to do this.

Added to those challenges is the increasing prisoner population. Before Christmas, the prison population reached 1,750 – a level we have not seen in Northern Ireland in a decade. This must be considered against the challenging budgets everyone in the public sector is facing.

However, the Prison Service is very focused on meeting those challenges and has recently published its roadmap for continuous improvement, Prisons 25 by 25. This is an ambitious programme, and it is important that the NIPS is given every possible support as it continues that work.

In conclusion, the Department of Justice provides a crucial role to people within our society, and we will continue to work closely with colleagues across the sector to maintain services and develop and deliver much needed reform in the coming years.

However, the Prison Service, is very focused on meeting those challenges and has recently published its roadmap for continuous improvement, Prisons 25 by 25. This is an ambitious programme, and it is important that the NIPS is given every possible support as it continues that work.

In conclusion, the Department of Justice provides a crucial role to people within our society, and we will continue to work closely with colleagues across the sector to maintain services and develop and deliver much needed reform in the coming years.