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...

Ausführliche Beschreibung

Gespeichert in:  
Bibliographische Detailangaben
1. VerfasserIn: Rogan, Mary (Verfasst von)
Medienart: Elektronisch Aufsatz
Sprache:Englisch
Veröffentlicht: 2022
In: European journal on criminal policy and research
Jahr: 2022, Band: 28, Heft: 3, Seiten: 425-433
Online-Zugang: Volltext (kostenfrei)
Verfügbarkeit prüfen: HBZ Gateway
Schlagwörter:
Beschreibung
Zusammenfassung: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.
ISSN:1572-9869
DOI:10.1007/s10610-022-09515-9