People with disabilities and the Australian Criminal Justice System: Interactions and barriers to access (original) (raw)
Related papers
2015
This paper considers the barriers that people with disabilities in Ireland face in accessing justice through the criminal justice system when they are victims of crime. It draws on qualitative research with key actors working within the agencies of the Irish criminal justice system, along with disability organisations, victim support organisations and health and social care providers. The research identifies a number of barriers which can be differentiated in terms of those operating at a strategic policy level, and those happening ‘on the ground’ when disabled people encounter the justice system in reporting a crime or going to court as a witness. The research found a lack of recognition of people with disabilities as victims of crime amongst many agencies of the justice system, an absence which is compounded by a failure to collate data on disabled people as victims of crime. On the ground, inconsistent practices regarding how gardai, barristers and the judiciary respond to people...
University of St. Thomas law journal, 2017
Access to justice is a broad concept, encompassing peoples’ effective access to the systems, procedures, information, and locations used in the administration of justice. Persons with disabilities have often been denied access to fair and equal treatment before the courts, tribunals, law enforcement officials, prison systems, and other bodies that make up the justice systems in their country because they have faced barriers. “As long as persons with disabilities face barriers to their participation in the justice system, they will be unable to assume
Journal of Intellectual Disabilities and Offending Behaviour
Purpose Mental health courts (MHCs) may enable better support for people with intellectual disabilities (ID) within the criminal justice system (CJS) but little evaluative empirical evidence is available regarding their operation. The purpose of this paper is to explore professional perceptions of the challenges of including people with ID in a targeted services court (TSC) designed for people with mental health issues and ID. Design/methodology/approach Information was gathered, via interviews and focus groups, from 46 professionals working with people with mental health issues and ID within the TSC. Data were analysed by using thematic network analysis. Findings Findings highlight the neglect and lack of inclusion of people with ID within the TSC processes, with challenges in identifying people with ID, stakeholder awareness, inconsistent adapting of practices for people with ID and information transfer underpinned by the involvement of numerous organisations with differing agenda...
Criminal Legal Systems and the Disability Community: An Overview
Social Sciences
While the scale and scope of the criminal legal system is often discussed with attention to racial disproportionalities, the fact that disabled people are overrepresented at all points in the system is less discussed by social workers. Disabled people come into contact with the criminal legal system as suspects, defendants, incarcerated persons, victims, and witnesses. Compared to people without disabilities, disabled people are more likely to experience victimization, be arrested, be charged with a crime, and serve longer prison sentences once convicted. These trends are even more profound for disabled people with intersecting marginalized identities, such as people of color, women, poor people, and those who identify as LGBTQ. This article provides an overview of the connections between disability, law enforcement, and practices of imprisonment in the United States. We provide a historical overview of the involvement of disabled people in the criminal legal system, review the prev...
Law in Context. A Socio-legal Journal
In the 10 years since Australia has ratified the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD), the issue of the indefinite detention of persons with cognitive disabilities found unfit to stand trial has received considerable attention. Concerns have been raised by national media, law reform bodies and United Nations human rights agencies. Yet there remain few examples of formal change to unfitness to stand trial laws in Australia. This article focuses on the role of procedural accommodations in meeting CRPD requirements, and other accessibility measures to ensure accused persons with cognitive disabilities are able to take part in criminal proceedings on an equal basis with others. It examines support measures that appear in existing statute and case law within Australia and considers the need to develop new forms of support.
Sociolegal Review, 2015
Victimology has received increasing attention in criminological circles and in the criminal law. Recent legislative changes to the criminal justice system (‘CJS’) in Ireland reflect this shift in focus. However, this dissertation will argue that while the interests of the overall group of victims has come into popular discourse, there is a dearth of analysis and study into a particular subgroup of victims - victims of crimes with disabilities. Moreover, a lack of critical commentary has been particularly acute in Ireland, until the recent publication by Kilcommins et al which provided an examination of the current academic literature in the area, and pointed to structural changes to be made. They highlighted areas requiring more investigation including the need for a qualitative analysis of the experiences of victims with disabilities (‘VWD’) in their dealings with the CJS. This study, building on the foundations laid by Kilcommins et al., attempts to understand the particular difficulties VWD face in the criminal justice process. The study undertakes socio-legal research based upon direct engagement in the form of interviews with victims who have disabilities. A common theme running through the discourse, as unearthed in the literature review, is the identification of barriers to justice, but this phenomenon has yet to titled. This dissertation, in its concluding segments will put forward the hypothesis of ‘tertiary victimisation’ where the interaction of having a disability with the CJS results in a unique victimisation or suffering experience for VWD. The segments preceding that will discuss the unique factors that contribute to this experience of ‘tertiary victimisation’.