He was speaking after questioning the Lord Chancellor in the House of Commons today.
The East Belfast MP said, “There are significant backlogs within the Court system right across the United Kingdom. That is certainly the case in Northern Ireland and the figures have remained stubbornly high over many years. In 2021-22 almost 80% of prison committals in Northern Ireland were remand prisoners and nearly 40% of the prison population were unsentenced prisoners.
.@GRobinsonDUP questions whether the Government will look towards the possibility of rehabilitation of offenders whilst on remand. pic.twitter.com/61SfAL7V1y
— DUP (@duponline) March 5, 2025
The significant number of prisoners on remand means that many are released following conviction on time served. Rehabilitation is fundamental to the prison system, but in such cases there has been no opportunity for that prisoner to participate in any programmes to achieve this.
Whilst prisoners on remand have obviously not been convicted, the numbers within the system cannot be ignored and it is an area that Government should focus on through either the Independent Review of the Criminal Courts or the Independent Sentencing Review which are both underway.”