On Friday, 4 June 2021, Dr. Alan Cusack addressed Minister of State with responsibility for Law Reform, James Browne T.D, at the 7^th Annual Irish Criminal Justice Agencies (ICJA) Conference.

The conference represented a collaboration between The Policing Authority (lead partner), The Department of Justice, The Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth (DCEDIY), The Office of the DPP, Irish Prison Service, The Probation Service, An Garda Síochána, An Garda Síochána Inspectorate, The Courts Service, The Office of the Revenue Commissioner and the Association for Criminal Justice Research and Development (ACJRD) .

The theme for this year’s conference was “Protecting the Human Rights of Vulnerable Suspects and Offenders: Defining, Identifying and Responding to Vulnerabilities” and it focused upon a range of important issues related to the identification and protection of vulnerable suspects and offenders within Ireland’s criminal justice system.

Dr. Cusack’s plenary address was entitled ‘An Overview of the Legal Position of Vulnerable Suspects and Defendants in Ireland’. The paper drew upon a forthcoming publication for the US journal Policing: An International Journal and it considered the adequacy of existing evidential and procedural safeguards for protecting vulnerable suspects and defendants in Irish criminal proceedings. Prof. Gautam Gulati (School of Medicine, University of Limerick) also delivered plenary address on the topic of the treatment of suspects with intellectual disabilities.

A full report from the conference, including excerpts from the plenary addresses, will be published shortly on the ACJRD website.