This unique book combines the insights of major office-holders, experienced practitioners and leading academics to provide a comprehensive overview of the Irish criminal justice system, its current problems and its vision for the future. Informative accounts of the institutions, services and legal framework of the system, including the criminal law, the courts, the Garda Siochana and the penal system are presented alongside perceptive analyses of key criminological problems. Sociologists, psychologists, philosophers, educationalists and legal scholars contribute their incisive critical perspectives on issues such as the roots and nature of crime the societal response to crime, the role of drugs and innovative approaches to prevention and rehabilitation.
Section 1: The Criminal Law
Introduction
The Legal Framework of the Criminal Law
Criminal Procedure and Evidence
The Constitution
Reflections on Twenty-Five Years as Ireland’s First Director of Public Prosecutions
Section 2: The Phenomenon of Crime
Introduction
Assessment of the Crime Rate in Ireland - Issues and Considerations
Women and the Criminal Justice System
How Dirty is the White Collar? Analysing White Collar Crime
“this otherwise delicate subject”: Child Sex Abuse in early Twentieth-Century Ireland Drugs, Crime, and Prohibitionist Ideology
Section 3: Society and Crime
Introduction
Prisons, Politicians and Democracy
The Portrayal of Crime in the Media - Does it Matter
Justice for Young Offenders in a Caring Society
The Impact of the Northern “Troubles” on Criminal Justice in the Irish Republic
The Third Pillar of the European Union: The Emerging Structure of EU Police and Judicial Co-Operation in Criminal Matters, and its impact on Irish Criminal Justice and Civil Liberties
Section 4: The Courts
Introduction
The Courts Service
The Practice of Sentencing in the Irish Courts
Punishment and the Popular Mind: How Much is Enough?
The Central Criminal Court: A View from the Bench
The Victim and the Criminal Justice Process
A Tale of Two Sectors: A Critical Analysis of the Proposal to Establish Drug Courts in the Republic of Ireland
Section 5: Policing
Introduction Challenges Facing An Garda Siochana
The Garda Siochana: A Legal and Constitutional Perspective
Recent Developments in Forensic Science
Policing Ireland: Past Present and Future
The Psychology of Police Interrogation: The Kerry Babies Case
Section 6: The Penal System
Introduction
Punishment in Ireland: Can we talk about it? The Irish Prisons Service, Past, Present and Future - A Personal Perspective
The Social Analysis of the Irish Prison System
Punishing Poverty and Personal Adversity
The Probation and Welfare Service: Its Role in Criminal Justice
Section 7: Crime Prevention, Crime Reduction and Treatment of Offenders
Introduction
Youth Crime Prevention
Offender Rehabilitation Programmes for Imprisoned Sex Offenders - Grounds for Optimism?
Penal Policy and the Adult Education of Prisoners
Restorative Justice
Social and Psychological Aspects of Drug Treatment and Rehabilitation within Irish Prisons