Committee for Justice Seminars on Innovation in the Criminal Justice System
The Committee for Justice, as part of its work programme, is seeking to consider and discuss innovative approaches that could be adopted as part of the criminal justice system in Northern Ireland. With that in mind, the Committee launched a series of Justice Seminars (details of which can be found below) to provide the Committee, Members of the Judiciary, legal experts and key stakeholders with the opportunity to discuss innovation in the justice system.
Justice in a Digital Age Conference - Thursday 15 October 2015
The issues of social media and changing technologies have been raised throughout the recent seminars and it was decided that the Committee would hold a conference to consider and generate discussion around the following issues –
Social Media – online protection for children, cyber-bullying and online reputation
Cybercrime – considering organised crime, identity theft, fraud and cyber-attacks on businesses and institutions
The Legal Response to Changing Technologies - considering how legislators and the justice system can respond to these new challenges
The conference was held on Thursday 15 October in W5, Belfast and if you missed it you can watch it again on this page. The conference agenda and a copy of the stakeholder invitation can be found below.
Copy of stakeholder invitation
Previous Seminar Information
The inaugural Justice Seminar took place at 1.30pm on Thursday 23 April 2015 when the Lord Chief Justice, Sir Declan Morgan QC, will address the Seminar on Youth Justice and the innovations that have the potential to speed up/improve the system.
The second Justice Seminar took place on Thursday 21 May 2015 when the Bar Council addressed the Seminar on youth justice.
The third Seminar took place on Thursday 18 June 2015 when the Law Centre for Northern Ireland addressed the Seminar on Initiative in Children's Order Public Law Proceedings.
The fourth Seminar was held on 24 September 2015 the focus of was on digital courts and on-line dispute resolution. The Committee invited Professor Maurits Barendrecht from The Hague Institute for the Internationalisation of Law to make a presentation on the Dutch on-line dispute platform the Rechtwijzer 2.0 for relational disputes and to discuss other possible applications.
The fifth Seminar took place on 19 November 2015 at the Ulster University on Developing digital justice for Northern Ireland: challenges and opportunities. The key note presentation delivered by Dr Eugene McNamee and Dr Grainne McKeever.
As part of the innovation Seminars the Committee invited the Rt Hon Sir Brian Leveson, President of the Queen’s Bench to address members of the Committee and invited guests on his report into the Review of Efficiency in Criminal Proceedings in England and Wales. On 26 November 2015 an event was held in the Long Gallery, Parliament Buildings about the report’s findings and the lessons that Northern Ireland can learn from it.
If you need any further information please contact the Committee Office on 02890 521582.
