Minister for Justice Heather Humphreys publishes Mid-Year Progress Report on Justice Plan 2021

71% of actions due for delivery in first half of 2021 achieved
progress on plan to build a justice system that works for everyone will be reported at year end, and plan will be updated for 2022
Justice Plan 2021 is making Ireland a safer and fairer place to live, work, visit and do business

The Minister for Justice, Heather Humphreys TD, has today published the mid-year progress report on Justice Plan 2021.

Justice Plan 2021, which contains more than 230 actions, is the first in a series of annual plans setting out actions to build a justice system that works for everyone.

It also details how the Department of Justice’s goals and ambitions as set out in its Statement of Strategy for the years 2021-2023, A safe, fair and inclusive Ireland, will be achieved.

Commenting on the publication of the report today, Minister Humphreys said:

"We are moving at pace on our ambition to build a justice system that works for everyone, and deliver on our strategic goals and ambitions. I look forward to seeing and feeling the impact of this transformative work on the justice sector and the people who interact with it.

"I am pleased to report that of the 132 actions examined, 71% or 93 are achieved. 2021 has not been without its challenges, and it has been necessary to readjust the timelines for some actions but I am confident these will be delivered soon."

Significant achievements have been made to date across the cross-cutting areas of priority under the Justice Plan. The department has:

commenced Coco’s Law to criminalise the distribution of intimate images without consent
continued implementation of Supporting a Victim’s Journey: A plan to help victims and vulnerable witnesses in sexual violence cases
published the landmark General Scheme of the Policing, Security and Community Safety Bill, which provides for wide-ranging and coherent reform of policing by improving the performance and accountability of policing and security services, and supporting the human rights of all people throughout Ireland to be and to feel safe in their communities. This is supporting implementation of A Policing Service for the Future to reform policing in Ireland
driven community and cross-agency participation in a new approach to make communities safer. We have established pilot community safety partnerships in Dublin, Longford and Waterford
agreed to set up a Community Safety Innovation Fund to support communities. It will An Garda Síochána and the Criminal Assets Bureau in seizing the proceeds of crime and will fund projects communities themselves know will help in improving their safety
published the Drogheda Implementation Plan, outlining 70 actions to improve community safety and wellbeing in Drogheda through greater co-operation by State agencies and others
introduced strong measures to tackle the cost of insurance, including bringing into operation new personal injuries guidelines and enacting and commencing the Criminal Justice (Perjury and Related Offences) Act 2021 to establish a statutory criminal offence for perjury and related offences
commenced the development of a scheme to regularise the immigration status of thousands of long-term undocumented people and their dependents. The Scheme is expected to open for applications before the end of the year
continued to work on drafting the new Family Law Bill to overhaul and modernise family law and the courts to ensure disputes can be settled in a less adversarial way, more sensitive to the needs of families
established the Parole Board on an independent statutory footing to take better account of the concerns of victims and survivors. Life-sentence prisoners must now serve 12 years before being considered for parole, compared to the previous 7 years
enacted the Personal Insolvency (Amendment) Act 2021 and commencement of its main provisions. The Act makes urgent changes to the Personal Insolvency Act 2012 to help people who are struggling to pay their debts to have more effective access to personal insolvency processes and solutions, in particular in light of the COVID-19 pandemic
published draft laws to introduce new, specific hate aggravated offences for crimes motivated by prejudice against protected characteristics
published an independent audit conducted on how responsibility for domestic, sexual and gender-based violence is segmented across different government departments and agencies
commenced a temporary system that enables applicants to complete their naturalisation process by signing a statutory declaration of loyalty to the State, thereby offering applicants the opportunity to complete their citizenship through the statutory declaration process while in person Citizenship Ceremonies are cancelled due to public health restrictions

The Mid-Year Progress Report published provides an overview of the progress made in the first half of this year on the cross-cutting areas set out in the Justice Plan. Of the 132 actions and sub-actions examined and reported on in this progress report, over two thirds (71%, 93 actions) are achieved as of the end of Q2. 6 of the actions are categorised as ‘ongoing’ – that is to say that while these actions are on track and no issues are arising, the nature of the action is that work will continue throughout the year to ensure its successful delivery. The remaining 25% (33) of actions are categorised as ‘not yet achieved’.

The plan, which adopts a digital first agenda, commits to:

supporting and protecting victims of crime, and strengthening community safety
supporting An Garda Síochána in completing its transformation to a world-class policing service as recommended by the Commission on the Future of Policing
providing an equitable and accessible path to justice, including through a new family law system
driving down costs of insurance and reducing legal fees to benefit businesses, consumers and communities
delivering a fair and efficient immigration system for a digital age
implementing climate change action policies, in line with our national and international obligations and commitments

Minister Humphreys continued:

"I commend the enthusiasm and dedication of the department’s leadership and staff in delivering on this ambitious programme of work which has met many Programme for Government commitments to date.

"This work is making Ireland a safer and fairer place to live, work, visit and do business.

"Justice Plan 2021 is incredibly ambitious and showcases the breadth and complexity of issues my department is responsible for. We committed to publishing bi-annual progress reports and Government noted this one at its last meeting, which is useful to ensure our work is transparent, measurable and accountable."

A further progress report will be published at the end of the year.

Notes

Read the full mid-year progress report on Justice Plan 2021.

Read Justice Plan 2021.

Other achievements to date

continuing to work on plans to increase the penalty of conspiracy to murder to life imprisonment, in particular to deal with gangland crime
commenced a targeted community intervention programme to prevent children most at risk from criminal gangs from being recruited, and announced harsh new penalties against those who groom children to commit offences
removed reporting restrictions which prevented parents from speaking publicly about their deceased child in cases where the child was unlawfully killed
published the first cross-government plan to implement reforms to tackle economic crime and corruption
delivered on Ireland’s successful connection to Schengen Information System (SIS II) which has already led to an increased number of arrests
delivering a compassionate approach to citizenship, with draft law published to change residency requirements for naturalisation of children born in the State from 5 years to 3 years
launched a new Immigration Service Customer Service Network to drive best practice and ensure consistent service quality for Immigration Service users, including the introduction of a centralised customer service help-desk
renewed the Offences Against the State Act to ensure we continue to have the powers to tackle terrorism and organised crime
enacted measures to introduce pre-trial hearing to ensure that victims are less likely to face stressful unexpected delays and adjournments to trial start dates
established the Mental Health Taskforce to ensure the mental health needs of those in prison are met, addiction treatments are provided and primary care support is available on release, in order to ensure improved outcomes for individuals and for society
published and started to implement a new Youth Justice Strategy to prevent offending behaviour from occurring and diverting children and young adults who commit a crime away from further offending and involvement with the criminal justice system
launched and started to implement a new strategy to help reduce re-offending by supporting employment options for people with past convictions
published proposal to expand the National Referral Mechanism to allow more victims of human trafficking to be identified and protected across a range of departments and agencies
announced that a new law will be drafted to expunge previous convictions for ‘sale of sex’ or prostitution offences to support victims of trafficking and exploitation in rebuilding their lives

Minister for Justice Heather Humphreys publishes Mid-Year Progress Report on Justice Plan 2021

Notes

Other achievements to date

Part of

Policies