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The Rules (Statutory Instrument 1859) Freedom of Information Act documents
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THE MEMBERSIntroduction and context Pen pictures for each of the Commissioners On 30 July 1998, the Secretary of State for Northern Ireland Dr Marjorie Mowlam appointed 10 Sentence Review Commissioners. The appointments were required under the Northern Ireland (Sentences) Act which came into force 28 July 1998. Dr Mowlam said: "The early release of prisoners is one of the most difficult parts of the Good Friday Agreement. The Northern Ireland (Sentences) Act provides the framework for releases and includes important safeguards for the protection of the public and to ensure that prisoners who support organisations that have not established or are not maintaining complete and unequivocal ceasefires will not be released early.
The Secretary of State has appointed Sir John Blelloch and Brian Currin as Joint Chairmen of the Sentence Review Commissioners. The other Commissioners appointed were, Silvia Casale, Peter Curran, Ian Dunbar, Adrian Grounds, Mary Gilpin, Clodagh McGrory and Duncan Morrow. The Secretary to the Commissioners is Moya Cushley Pen pictures for each of the Commissioners NOTES FOR EDITORS 1. The appointments are made under section 1(1) of the Northern Ireland (Sentences) Act 1998 which received Royal Assent and came into force on 28 July. 2. In making appointments the Secretary of State was required to:
3. Lord Dubs gave a commitment during the consideration of the Bill in the Lords that the Secretary of State would appoint a Commissioner with a knowledge of victims issues. 4. The Commissioners first tasks will be to settle their approach to their work within the Rules and agree application forms and information for prisoners so that they can begin to consider cases. 5. The Secretary of State has also today made procedural rules under the Northern Ireland (Sentences) Act. The Northern Ireland (Sentences) Act 1998 (Sentence Review Commissioners) Rules 1998 set out the procedures to be followed in making and considering applications to the Commissioners and related matters. 6. The safeguards under the legislation include the conditions that each prisoner must satisfy to be granted a declaration of eligibility for early release, the power for the Secretary of State to refer cases back to the Commissioners, the licence provisions and arrangements for recall, the requirement to specify organisations that have not established and are not maintaining complete and unequivocal ceasefires, the power to vary the accelerated release provisions and the power to suspend the scheme as a whole. Sir John Blelloch was Permanent Under Secretary of State at the Northern Ireland Office from 1988 to 1990, having previously served as a Deputy Secretary in that Office from 1980 to 1982, while resident in Northern Ireland. Between these appointments he held the posts of Deputy Secretary (Policy) and then Second Permanent Under Secretary at the MOD. He is currenly Vice-Chairman of the Automobile Association and holds a number of other appointments on government committees and with volutary organisations.
Brian Currin is qualified as an attorney in South Africa and works in mediation and institutional transformation. In 1994 he was appointed by President Mandela to chair a Prison Audit Committee and was subsequently involved in the creation of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission. In 1987 he founded the National Directorate of Lawyers for Human Rights which he headed for eight years. He has worked in Sri Lanka, Rwanda and the Middle East on political transformation. Silvia Casale is an independent criminologist. She is the President of the European Committee for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or Degrading Treatment or Punishment and a consultant with HM Chief Inspector of Prisons. She has worked in Sweden and the United States and as a member of the Parole Board of England and Wales. She has published extensively on prison issues. Peter Curran is a consultant psychiatrist based at the Mater Hospital, Belfast. He has an interest in the victims of violence and has lectured extensively on the psychological and social impact of civil disorder and political violence. He was a member of the Mental Health Commission for eight years. Ian Dunbar CB retired from his position as Director of Inmate Administration and as a member of the Board of the Prison Service of England and Wales in 1994. He was previously Director of Prisons for the South West Region and had been the Governor of a number of prisons in England and Wales. He also worked for HM Inspectorate of Prisons and conducted the inquiry into disturbances at Risley Remand Centre. Mary Gilpin is an ex-probation officer from Scotland and a retired social worker. She was a member of the Board of Visitors for HMP Maze from 1985 to 1997 and served two terms as Chairman as well as being Secretary to the Northern Ireland Association of Members of Boards of Visitors. She was involved in setting up Dismas House, a hostel for use by prisoners and their families. Dr Adrian Grounds has been University Lecturer in Forensic Psychiatry at the Institute of Criminology and Department of Psychiatry at the University of Cambridge since 1987. He is an Honorary Consultant Forensic Psychiatrist at Addenbrookes Hospital NHS Trust. Between 1984 and 1987 he was a Clinical Lecturer and Senior Registrar in Forensic Psychiatry at Broadmoor Hospital and the Institute of Psychiatry, London. Clodach McGrory is a Barrister with a particular interest in Human Rights work. She practised at the Bar of Northern Ireland from 1990 to 1995. She subsequently worked at the Law Centre (Northern Ireland) and was a member of the Standing Advisory Commission on Human Rights from 1998 to 1999. She was appointed a member of the Irish Human Rights Commission in January 2001. Duncan Morrow is a lecturer in politics at the University of Ulster and a member of the Community Relations Council. He is the author of a number of reports into politics and community relations in Northern Ireland. He is a member of the Corrymeela Community with a longtime interest in reconciliation and conflict resolution. Donal McFerran is a qualified solicitor who practised as partner in a litigation firm in Belfast . Has served as a Deputy Resident Magistrate, was appointed a Deputy County Court Judge in 1990 and is a legal member of the Mental Health Tribunal. Appointed a Life Sentence Review Commissioner in October 2002.
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