Report into garda compliance with human rights standards will not be published

 3rd April 2022

A substantial report by the Policing Authority into garda compliance with human rights standards during homicide investigations has been completed, following a major controversy over the misclassification of killings.

However, it is understood the garda watchdog does not intend to publish the report because of potential legal ramifications.

In 2020 the Policing Authority put out a tender for experts to carry out a review of homicide misclassifications within An Garda Síochána.

Legal experts Ciaran Toland, SC, and James Byrne, BL, were later awarded the tender. They submitted their report at the end of last year.

When contacted, the Policing Authority said: “The Toland and Byrne report provides advice to the Authority on the methodology for assessing compliance with the State’s procedural obligations under Article 2 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

“The aim was to ensure that the authority had a full understanding, from the perspective of human rights law, of the appropriate safeguards that need to be in place to facilitate homicide investigations in Ireland being carried out to the highest standard possible.”

When the tender was issued in 2020, it “raised eyebrows” among some within the senior ranks of An Garda Síochána, given a major review into the controversy was completed by the Garda Homicide Investigation Review Team the previous December.

In its tender, the authority praised An Garda Síochána’s “review process” and “commended the candour of the final report”. However, the authority stated it still wanted to “review the criteria through which Article Two compliance should be assessed in future cases”.

A senior security source said the Garda Homicide Investigation Review Team spent “tens of thousands of garda hours” conducting its review, which also examined garda compliance with human rights standards.

“A lot of taxpayers’ money was already spent on this garda review of all aspects of homicide classifications. Then there was this second review ordered by the Policing Authority, which no doubt also cost a lot of money, and now it seems this report will not even be published,” they said.

“It was a review of what was already a conclusive and extensive review. It seems like a waste of money, all things considered.”

In December 2019 the garda review of 41 homicide investigations between 2013 and 2015 found at least one issue arose in 28 of the cases. The Garda Homicide Investigation Review Team identified issues around data quality and misclassification.

Twelve of the deaths were reclassified as a result of the review. However, the report found the issues identified did not have an impact on the outcome of 40 of the investigations.

The former chairperson of the Policing Authority, Josephine Feehily, described the garda findings as “worrying”.