Joanne Bunting said:
“The report from the Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland of November 2024 is damning and deeply concerning. It paints a stark picture of a Department of Justice that lacks a clear vision and a joined-up strategy for improving how criminal justice is delivered across Northern Ireland.
This failure has very real and serious consequences for victims, witnesses, defendants, and all those who work within the justice system. The message in this report is that since the devolution of policing and justice in 2015, there has been no meaningful progress in the administration of justice in Northern Ireland. That is a damning indictment of those who have held ministerial responsibility for justice during that time.
It appears that successive ministers have been content to pass legislation and tick boxes, but have failed to tackle the deeper, structural and collaborative problems within the Department. The silo mentality among justice bodies remains, and there is no evidence of the sort of strong, strategic leadership that is needed to bring about lasting improvement.
It is imperative that action is taken to ensure those in the criminal justice system pull in the same direction with shared and agreed priorities.
If this were a school report card for the Alliance or Independent Justice Ministers, it would read could do better. What Northern Ireland needs is not more laws for the sake of it, but a Department that is properly led, clearly focused, and working in a coordinated way to deliver justice that is fair, efficient and effective.
The public deserve better. We are in desperate need of leadership that is willing to take responsibility and drive real change.”