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Human Rights-Based Policing: Analysing the Implementation of the Recommendations from the Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland
Thu, September 12, 2:30 to 3:45pm, Faculty of Law, University of Bucharest, Floor: Ground floor, Petre Antonescu Room (1.30)Abstract
The Commission on the Future of Policing in Ireland (CoFPI) was established in May 2017 to provide recommendations on reform of An Garda Síochána (the Irish police). The CoFPI arose from multiple scandals and subsequent tribunal and/or commission reports calling for Garda reform, following An Garda Síochána operating with non-intrusive governance and very little external oversight for most of its history. The Commission's paramount recommendation was that human rights should be the foundation and purpose of policing. To ensure human rights at the heart of policing, it recommended a strengthened, and more simplified, system of police governance, oversight, and accountability.
Using a human rights lens, this paper analyses the implementation of the recommendations from the CoFPI. Key to this analysis is the Policing, Security and Community Safety Act 2024 (PSCS Act), which is intended to implement the Commission’s recommendations, including reforms to existing oversight bodies and the creation of new ones, including a corporate Garda board and an Independent Examiner of Security Legislation. Ultimately, this paper finds a common theme is a potential regression of powers, access to information, and independence of the reformed oversight bodies. These findings are regrettable and worrisome given the history of successive crises in An Garda Síochána arising from a lack of sufficient oversight. Effective oversight is essential for maintaining the momentum and continuity of human rights-based reform.
To complement the legal analysis of the implementation of CoFPI recommendations, qualitative research data obtained through semi-structured interviews between the author and policing stakeholders (including staff and members of the oversight bodies, academics, former members of CoFPI, and civil society organisations) is embedded throughout the paper.