Examining the Role of Legal Culture as a Protective Factor Against High Rates of Pre-trial Detention: the Case of Ireland
Ireland has a comparatively low pre-trial detention rate by European standards, at around 14 pre-trial detainees per 100,000 population. This article seeks to explore one factor which may explain a lower use of pre-trial detention in Ireland: its legal culture. Drawing on semi-structured interviews...
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| Format: | Electronic Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
2022
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| In: |
European journal on criminal policy and research
Year: 2022, Volume: 28, Issue: 3, Pages: 425-433 |
| Online Access: |
Volltext (kostenfrei) |
| Journals Online & Print: | Drawer...
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| Check availability: | HBZ Gateway |
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| Summary: | Ireland has a comparatively low pre-trial detention rate by European standards, at around 14 pre-trial detainees per 100,000 population. This article seeks to explore one factor which may explain a lower use of pre-trial detention in Ireland: its legal culture. Drawing on semi-structured interviews with judges, prosecution lawyers, defence lawyers and probation staff, the article finds that the constitutional protection of the right to bail (the key alternative to pre-trial detention in Ireland), an enduring legal tradition which historically prohibited the use of a risk of offending ground, and shared views and assumptions about the objectives of pre-trial detention hearings amongst judges, prosecution and defence lawyers, have influenced how such actors engage in the decision-making process about the use of pre-trial detention. The article argues that more attention needs to be given to the role of legal culture to examine why detention rates differ across Europe. |
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| ISSN: | 1572-9869 |
| DOI: | 10.1007/s10610-022-09515-9 |