Publications

NIPS policy on self harm and suicide prevention

The Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission broadly welcomes the aim of the Northern Ireland Prison Service (NIPS) “...to identify prisoners at risk of suicide of self harm and provide the necessary support and care to prevent the individual harming him or herself.” Given the six recent deaths in custody, the improvement of the Service’s capacity to identify and manage such risk is obviously a matter of urgency.

The particular interest of the Commission in this subject is, of course, that it presents vital human rights concerns principally around prisoners’ right to life and to health care.

northern-ireland-prison-service-policy-on-self-harm-and-suicide-prevention-management-march-2004.pdf