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Profile Photo

Professor Mary Rogan

Professor In (Law)
HOUSE 39, COLLEGE
      
Profile Photo

Professor Mary Rogan

Professor In (Law)
HOUSE 39, COLLEGE

 roganma@tcd.ie

 3531896 4271


Professor Mary Rogan's research interests include human rights and detention, experiences of monitoring and human rights protections in detention, and penal policymaking. Professor Rogan received a first class honours degree in Law from Trinity College Dublin before going on to obtain a BCL from the University of Oxford. Professor Rogan received her PhD at Trinity College Dublin for her work on the penal policymaking process. She was elected to Fellowship of Trinity College Dublin in 2021. She is a barrister with expertise in prison law, receiving the degree of Barrister-at-Law from the Honorable Society of King's Inns with distinction. She is also a Member of Lincoln's Inn and the Bar of England and Wales. Prof. Rogan holds an MA in Higher Education from Dublin Institute of Technology and a Postgraduate Diploma in Statistics from Trinity College Dublin. In 2021, she became President of the International Penal and Penitentiary Foundation/Fondation Internationale Pénale et Pénitentiaire, becoming the first person from Ireland and the first woman to hold this position. Since 2023, she has been its Secretary-General, also the first from Ireland. In 2022, she won best civic engagement project award at the Trinity Civic Engagement Awards. Professor Rogan received a Starting Grant worth €1.5 million in 2015 for a project entitled 'Prisons: the rule of law, accountability and rights'. This work brings together the disciplines of public law and the sociology of punishment to examine inspection, oversight and accountability in prison systems in Europe. In 2024, she commenced work on a project funded by the ERC's Proof of Concept scheme entitled 'Prison Oversight: Improving Rights in Europe (POIRE)). This work provides support and training to people in prison and officials in responding to international human rights prison monitoring. Professor Rogan has also received funding from the European Commission and Irish Research Council for cross-jurisdictional projects on imprisonment, and pre-trial detention, and for work on law and social change. She has led research on bail and pre-trial detention in Ireland as part of research examining seven European Union countries, and a further project examining leadership in penal change in the United States and Europe. Professor Rogan has served two terms as a Panel Member for applications to ERC Starting Grants in the SH2 panel (2023). She has been also been a reviewer for the National Science Center, Poland, the Flanders Research Foundation, KU Leuven. She has also provided research consultancy to the Council of Europe on projects concerning the inspection of prisons in Ukraine and North Macedonia. She is the former Book Review Editor for the Howard Journal of Crime and Justice and a current member of its Editorial Board and a member of the Research Advisory Group to the Howard League for Penal Reform. Professor Rogan teaches Human Rights and the Deprivation of Liberty, Penology and Criminology at Trinity College Dublin and was the first coordinator of the Undergraduate Research Project Programme at the School of Law. She has pioneered community-based learning methods in legal education including research partnerships with NGOs. Professor Rogan is committed to using research to improve penal policy and the policymaking process and chaired the Implementation and Oversight Group on reforms to penal policy, reporting to the Minister for Justice and Equality from 2014 - 2020. She was appointed to the inaugural Research Advisory Group for the Department of Justice and Equality in July 2018. She sits on the Advisory Group to the Office of the Inspector of Prisons and has been a member of the Central Statistics Office's Expert Group on Crime Statistics. She is a former member of the Board of the Irish Association for the Social Integration of Offenders, the Victims' Rights Alliance, and is a former Chairperson of the Irish Penal Reform Trust.
  accountability in prisons   human rights in prison   Prison   Prison Law   prison oversight   prison policy   prison policy in ireland   Prisoner health
Project Title
 Prisons: the rule of law, accountability and rights
From
2016
To
2021
Summary
This project aims: 1. To find out whether 'accountability' is a distinctive norm of the European legal system, and what European prison law and policy requires regarding the oversight and monitoring of prisons; 2. To find out how accountability is experienced by prisoners, prison staff and staff of bodies such as Ombudsmen, inspectors, and bodies which deal with complaints; 3. To create a typology of accountability bodies in European prison systems, and examine the relationship between the presence of such bodies and other indicators of prison regimes. Dr. Rogan will lead a team of three postdoctoral researchers, two PhD students, an MPhil student and a research assistant to carry out the work.
Funding Agency
European Research Council
Programme
Starting Grant
Project Title
 Prison Oversight: Improving Rights in Europe
From
01/03/2024
To
31/08/2024
Summary
This project offers support and training to people in prison and officials to enhance their ability to engage with international prison monitoring and thus enhance human rights compliance in prisons.
Funding Agency
European Research Council
Programme
Proof of Concept
Project Title
 Towards pre-trial detention as ultima ratio?
From
2016
To
end 2017
Summary
This project examines the use of pre-trial detention and alternatives to such detention across Europe. It involves work in Ireland, Romania, Austria, Germany, Lithuania and the Netherlands. It will analyse pre-trial detention practices, with a particular focus on decisions which have a cross-border element,
Funding Agency
European Commission DG Justice
Programme
Action Grants
Project Title
 Leadership, culture and managing prisons: knowledge exchange between the USA and Europe
From
01/01/17
To
30/09/17
Summary
LEADERS will build a global network of innovative prison leaders engaged in progressive reforms to prison systems, the NGO partner, the Irish Penal Reform Trust, and the academic and NGO sectors in Ireland and the USA. LEADERS provides masterclasses and opportunities for reflection by prison leaders in selected US states and European countries. Participants will be invited to take part in research examining the challenges faced by prison leaders. LEADERS fulfils a core aim of the NGO partner - to support prison leadership to implement policy change.
Funding Agency
Irish Research Council
Programme
New Foundations: Enhancing Civic Society in an international context
Project Type
Knowledge exchange and research
Person Months
9

Details Date
Panel Member SH2, ERC Starting Grant applications. 2022
Secretary General, International Penal and Penitentiary Foundation 2022
President, International Penal and Penitentiary Foundation/Fondation Internationale Pénale et Pénitentiaire, a 150 year old body with members across five continents with the aim of promoting studies in crime prevention and penal policy. 2020
Member of international editorial board, Howard Journal of Crime and Justice 2018
Appointed by the Tánaiste and Minister for Justice and Equality as Chairperson of the Implementation and Oversight Group for the Report of the Strategic Review Group on Penal Policy 2015 -
Member. Research Advisory Group, Howard League for Penal Reform (UK) 2019
Member, Inaugural Research Advisory Group, Department of Justice 2018
Member of the inaugural Department of Justice and Equality Research Advisory Group 07/18 -
Reviewer Canadian Journal of Law and Society 2021
Reviewer Punishment and Society 2021
Consultant on review of funding to build Cork Prison and a youth detention centre for the Council of Europe Development Bank 2019
Consultant on human rights and prison issues, Council of Europe for projects in Ukraine and North Macedonia 2019
Reviewer, research grant applications, National Science Centre, Poland 2021
Reviewer and panel member for ERC mock interviews, SSH applicants, Irish Research Council 2017
Member, Inaugural Research Advisory Group, Office of the Inspector of Prisons 2019
Elected to the International Penal and Penitentiary Foundation in respect of Ireland (representing academia; the two other representatives being Vivan Geiran, Director of the Probation Service and the Hon. Ms. Justice Úna Ní Raifertaigh, judge of the Court of Appeal). 2013 -
Appointed by the Central Statistics Office to the Expert Group on Crime Statistics 2015 -
Member Advisory Group, ERC-funded RECEDE project (University of Nottingham) 2022
Presented on bail and pre-trial detention to Oireachtas sub-committee on Justice 2019
Reviewer British Journal of Criminology 2021
Member of the interim Board of the Victims' Rights Alliance 2016 -
Reviewer, Routledge 2012 -
Member Advisory group ESRC funded project on Deaths in Custody University of Nottingham 2019
Board member, Irish Association for the Social Integration of Offenders 2010-
Reviewer, Child and Family Law Quarterly 2018
Reviewer, Theoretical Criminology 2020
Appointed by the Minister for Justice and Equality to the Working Group conducting a Strategic Review of Penal Policy in Ireland 2013
Invited research collaborator, Confederation of European Probation 2017 -
Chairperson, Advisory Board, Prisoner Support Network (Pathways Project and Care After Prison) 2015
Chairperson, Irish Penal Reform Trust (foremost NGO on penal affairs in Ireland) 2010 - 2014
External Examiner, Sligo Institute of Technology, (Higher Certificate in Custodial Care, Law programmes) 2010
External Examiner, School of Law and Government, Dublin City University/Ireland: LLB (Law and Society) and LLM programmes 2015 -
External Examiner, Criminal Justice, Waterford Institute of Technology/Ireland 2015 -
Reviewer, Palgrave Macmillan 2014 -
Reviewer, University of Monash Law Review 2014 -
External Examiner, Letterkenny Institute of Technology (Law) 2009
Academic Advisor, Trinity College Law Review 2006 -
Organiser of a public event on 'Changing Ireland, Changing Law' selected for inclusion in PROBE: Research Uncovered event at Trinity College Dublin/Ireland 2016
Presented to the Joint Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality on research into public interest law and strategic litigation 2015
Presentation on "The impact of ERC funding", European Research Council Day, Royal Irish Academy, Dublin/Ireland 2016
Details Date From Date To
Secretary General of the International Penal and Penitentiary Foundation/Fondation Internationale Pénale et Pénitentiaire 2021 2022
Member, Inaugural Research Advisory Group, Office of the Inspector of Prisons, Ireland 2018
President, International Penal and Penitentiary Foundation 2022
Member, The Honorable Society of Lincoln's Inn, London, UK 2020
Chair, Implementation and Oversight Group for the Review of Penal Policy (appointed by the Minister for Justice) 2014 2020
Member, Howard League for Penal Reform (UK) Research Advisory Group 2020
Member for Ireland and Voting Member, the International Penal and Penitentiary Foundation/Fondation Internationale Pénale et Pénitentiaire 2014
Member, Advisory Group to ERC-funded project RECEDE, University of Nottingham 2022
Member, Penal Policy Review Group (appointed by the Minister for Justice) 2013 2014
Member, Expert Group on Crime Statistics (with the Central Statistics Office) - set up to carry out a comprehensive review of the collection, publication and methodology for crime statistics in Ireland 2018 2019
Member Inaugural Research Advisory Group, Department of Justice, Ireland 2018
Director, Irish Association for the Social Integration of Offenders 2012 2020
Chairperson, Irish Penal Reform Trust 2010 2014
Member, Division on Corrections and Sentencing, American Society of Criminology 2012 2022
Member of the Board, Victims' Rights Alliance 2016 2020
Convenor, 'Cultural and Legal Lives of Incarceration' Network, Law and Society Association 2011 2013
Prison Monitoring its successes and pitfalls in, editor(s)Laurrari, Elena Daems, Tom , Handbook on European Penology, Routledge, 2025, pp1-28 , [Laurrari, Elena, and Rogan, Mary], Book Chapter, IN_PRESS
Who complains in prison and who doesn't, and why? A view from Germany in, editor(s)Laurrari, Elena Daems, Tom , Just Prisons, Routledge, 2025, pp1 - 30 , [Morgenstern, Christine; Rogan, Mary], Book Chapter, IN_PRESS
Eva Aizpurua; Sophie van der Valk; Mary Rogan; Francisco Caravaca-Sánchez, Common knowledge? Awareness of national and international oversight bodies among incarcerated individuals in Spain, European Journal of Criminology, 2025, p24 , Notes: [https://doi.org/10.1177/14773708241309999], Journal Article, PUBLISHED  TARA - Full Text  DOI
Le système pénitentiaire irlandais, Céré Jean-Paul, World Prisons, 2024, pp32 , [Mary Rogan], Item in dictionary or encyclopaedia, etc, PUBLISHED  TARA - Full Text
Christine Morgenstern, Mary Rogan and Walter Hammershick, Pre-trial Detention in Europe: A Means of Last Resort?, Abingdon, Routledge , 2023, 300pp, Notes: [https://doi.org/10.4324/9781003159254 https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/10.4324/9781003159254/european-perspectives-pre-trial-detention-christine-morgenstern-walter-hammerschick-mary-rogan], Book, APPROVED
Social Rehabilitation and Torture Prevention Bodies in, editor(s)Adriano Martufi and Federica Coppola , Social Rehabilitation and Criminal Justice, Abingdon, Routledge , 2023, pp20 , [Mary Rogan], Book Chapter, IN_PRESS  TARA - Full Text
Morgenstern, Christine; Rogan, Mary, `One always looks for a compromise"": Senior prison managers" views of law, human rights and prisoner complaints in Germany, Incarceration, 4, 2023, p1 - 20, Journal Article, PUBLISHED  DOI
Sarah Curristan and Mary Rogan, When an Inspector Calls: Perceptions of Oversight among Prison Management, 2023, Journal Article, IN_PRESS
The two tales of prison litigation in Germany in, editor(s)Gaëtan Cliquennois , The Evolving Protection of Prisoners" Rights in Europe, Routledge , 2022, pp14 , [Morgenstern, Christine and Rogan, Mary ], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED
Ireland: The weak European supervision of prison policies and its explanations in, editor(s)Gaëtan Cliquennois , The Evolving Protection of Prisoners' Rights in Europe, Abingdon, 2022, pp13 , [Mary Rogan and Sophie van der Valk], Book Chapter, PUBLISHED  TARA - Full Text
  

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Mary Rogan, Developments in the Law on Imprisonment, 2025, Working Paper, PUBLISHED
Mary Rogan, Prison Inspection and Monitoring, North South Criminology Conference, Queen's University Belfaast, 2024, Conference Paper, PUBLISHED
Mary Rogan, The Irish prison system, 2024, Working Paper, PUBLISHED
Mary Rogan, Human Rights Perspectives on Mothering in Prisons, IN-CJ (International Network on Criminal Justice) Mothers and the Criminal Justice System, Online webinar, 16/05/2022, 2022, Dr Lucy Baldwin, Invited Talk, PUBLISHED
Mary Rogan, Deaths in Prison Custody, Deaths in Prisons, University of Oxford, 2022, Invited Talk, PUBLISHED
Mary Rogan, Recent Developments in Prison Litigation, Irish Prison Service Senior Managers Strategy Day, Irish Prison Service College, Portlaoise, Ireland, June 2022, 2022, Irish Prison Service, Invited Talk, PUBLISHED
Mary Rogan, Comparing Prison Oversight: Rights, Rules and Realism , Comparative Penology Symposium , University of Strathclyde, October 2022, 2022, Ben Crewe (Cambridge) and Louise Brangan (Strathclyde), Invited Talk, PUBLISHED
Mary Rogan, The Prison Rules: Current Impact and Opportunities for Reform, The Prison Rules: Current Impact and Opportunities for Reform, Online , 25/02/21, 2021, Irish Penal Reform Trust, Invited Talk, PUBLISHED
Mary Rogan, Doing comparative research on prison oversight, Leiden University Comparative Law, 2021, Prof Miranda Boone, Invited Talk, PUBLISHED
Professor Mary Rogan, Presentation on the outcome of evaluation by the Council of Europe Development Bank of judicial infrastructure in Ireland, Paris, France, 23 January 2020, 2020, Invited Talk, PUBLISHED

  


Page 1 of 9
Award Date
Best Civic Engagement Project, Trinity Civic Engagement Award 2022
Law School Nominee for Trinity College Dublin Graduate Supervision Prize 2022
Secretary General, International Penal and Penitentiary Foundation 2022
President, International Penal and Penitentiary Foundation 2021
Honorary Lifetime Member, Irish Penal Reform Trust 2014
British Institute of International and Comparative Law Visiting Fellowship 2014
Teaching Excellence Award/Dublin Institute of Technology 2012
James Murnaghan Memorial Prize/Honorable Society of King's Inns 2010
Simms'' prize for best performance in BCL examination in Crime, Justice and the Penal System/University of Oxford 2004
Trinity College Postgraduate Studentship/Trinity College Dublin 2004-2007
Graduate Bursary/University of Oxford 2004
Selected by Trinity College Dublin to participate in the LFHE Aurora programme 2016-2017
Réalt Scholarship/Dublin Institute of Technology 2008-2010