Legal system needs to adapt for people with intellectual disabilities - study

The study found while people with intellectual disabilities are over-represented in the criminal justice system worldwide, this was also the case in Ireland's prison population.

A new report recommends changes in how law enforcement interacts with people with intellectual disabilities after finding that barriers to communication are a significant theme and that some people may be "vulnerable to suggestion and coercion".

The study, carried out by researchers at the University of Limerick, alongside colleagues from other Irish universities, received the views of 95 people working in the area, including those working in a voluntary or representative organisation for people with intellectual disabilities (PWID), people working in healthcare, and working in law enforcement, including gardaí, judges, and barristers. 

It found that while people with intellectual disabilities are over-represented in the criminal justice system worldwide, this was also the case in Ireland's prison population.

"This high prevalence rate of intellectual impairment within Irish prisons raises questions with respect to the capacity of Irish criminal justice agencies, including serving members of An Garda Síochána, but also defence lawyers, the DPP's (Director of Public Prosecutions) Office, the judiciary, probation officers, and prison authorities to, at once, recognise and respond appropriately to situations involving a suspect with an intellectual disability," it said.

It referred to the case of Dean Lyons, who made a false confession to a double murder, as "one of the clearest Irish examples of the dangers associated with adopting an improper or disability-neutral approach to investigative interviewing".

Three main themes emerged: 

• Barriers to communication;
• The need to build awareness and skills;
• Institutional and system changes.

One interviewee suggested there should be increased number of specialists in law enforcement personnel and another said there was "a need for follow-up specialist training for experienced officers so that there could be at least one officer in each geographical division/large station who has extensive understanding of people with ID".

The study was published in the International Journal of Law and Psychiatry.