A new criminal justice blog entitled ‘Criminal Justice in Ireland’ has been established to provide a platform for the communication of ideas and viewpoints on criminal justice issues as they relate to the Irish criminal justice system. The blog is coordinated by Dr Ger Coffey in association with the Centre for Crime, Justice and Victim Studies in the School of Law.

Dr Ger Coffey posted the first piece on ‘Double Jeopardy Law Revisited’ which surveyed case law on the prohibition against multiple trials and punishments for the same criminal offence. The piece also considered relevant sections of the Criminal Procedure Act 2010 that made provision for with prejudice prosecution appeals against acquittals, and post acquittal retrial retrials in certain circumstances (where fresh and compelling evidence of the accused’s guilt is discovered or in the case of a tainted acquittal). The piece concluded that the public interest in the proper investigation and prosecution of offenders must be balanced against the due process rights of the accused, and the interests of crime victims must not be swept aside in this balancing exercise.

If you are interested in following the blog, or perhaps you would be interested in submitting a piece for posting to the blog, please email the blog coordinator Dr Ger Coffey: ger.coffey@ul.ie

The blog is available at: https://criminaljusticeinireland.wordpress.com