The Dublin Drug Treatment Court (DTC), established in 2001 as an alternative to custody, aims to provide an intensive, supervised treatment, education and recovery pathway for individuals whose offending is driven by an underlying drug dependency. Participants join the DTC programme after pleading or being found guilty of a non-violent offence. Their charges are paused during the programme, which operates on a voluntary supervision model, meaning individuals must agree to participate. If they engage satisfactorily, their charges are struck out.

After more than two decades in operation the DTC technically remains in pilot status. Despite reviews in 2002, 2005 and 2010, low referral numbers and questions about its ongoing sustainability persist. In the context of Ireland’s evolving National Drugs Strategy, which has moved towards a health-led approach to drug use, there is renewed policy interest in evaluating the court’s effectiveness and future role.

Ireland’s National Drugs Strategy, Reducing Harm, Supporting Recovery 2017-2025, aims to reduce the harms caused by drug and alcohol use in order to promote a healthier and safer Ireland, where every person affected is empowered to improve their health, wellbeing, and quality of life.1 Following a mid-term review of the Strategy in 2021, six new strategic priorities were identified, including Strategic Priority 5, which focuses on promoting alternatives to coercive sanctions (ACS) for drug-related offences.2 Actions were identified to ensure the implementation of these strategic priorities and are set out in the National Drugs Strategy Action Plan (2023–2024).

The Centre for Justice Innovation was previously commissioned by the Department of Health and Strategic Implementation Group 5 (SIG-5), to map the existing alternatives to coercive sanctions for people found in possession of controlled drugs for personal use in Ireland in fulfilment of SIG Action 5.4. Our report sought to outline the range of currently available ACS and inform the perspectives of the National Oversight Committee for the National Drug Strategy, as well as wider European drug strategies regarding the expansion of ACS for drug-related offences. The report identified Dublin DTC as an example of existing ACS practice. This work was informed by the Citizens’ Assembly on Drugs Use, which was established by the Oireachtas in 2023, to consider potential legislative, policy and practice changes that the State could make to significantly reduce the harmful impacts of illicit drugs on individuals, families, and wider communities throughout Ireland. The Citizens’ Assembly’s report on drugs use, published in January 2024, made 36 recommendations, the central one being that the State adopt a comprehensive health-led response to drugs.

Staff and graduates of the DTC gave evidence to the Citizens’ Assembly, outlining how the court works and their experiences of it. The Assembly noted that current diversionary and alternative to custody approaches are not consistently available or used across Ireland and recommended that the Government provide additional resource to support the expansion of structured pathways to divert people away from custodial sentences and into community- and residential-based treatment.3 This includes existing models such as the Drug Treatment Court.

The Centre has been commissioned by the Department of Justice to carry out an evaluation of the DTC, under SIG Action 5.3. This evaluation builds on the Assembly’s recommendation, aiming to review how effectively the DTC is operating as an alternative to custody and to consider the future direction of the court and its role within Ireland’s criminal justice and public health landscape. It is informed by a comprehensive review of existing evidence and  documentation, stakeholder engagement and court observations. It includes mapping the DTC’s process through a theory of change model, assessing its effectiveness in measuring impact, and evaluating its adherence to best practice and evidence on effective drug courts. The current effectiveness of the DTC in practice is assessed based on qualitative research, drawing on insights from professional stakeholders and service users. Our findings and reflections have been used to develop recommendations and advice on the most appropriate next steps in the development of the model. It is important to caveat that this is not an outcomes evaluation and thus cannot qualify the success of the programme in relation to its outcomes or in comparison to standard proceedings.