The manner in which criminal suspects are brought to trial has changed considerably in the past forty years in the criminal justice processes of both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland. While the ‘normalisation’ of emergency measures has played a considerable role in altering the nature and shape of these processes, other factors have also been influential: for example, rights-protection under the European Convention on Human Rights in both jurisdictions and under the Constitution in the Republic; political reaction to perceived domestic crises; and the emergence of new voices, such as those of victims, within the criminal justice sphere.