Situations where gardaí are not prosecuting perpetrators of domestic violence who breach barring orders “need to be taken extraordinarily seriously”, Minister for Justice Simon Harris has warned, adding he would be raising this with the force.
Speaking at the publication of a report on the experiences of adult abuse victims in criminal, and public and private civil courts, he said barring, safety and protection orders were put in place “for the protection of a victim, for the protection generally of a woman and often her children”.
“I do think this is an issue that needs to be taken extraordinarily seriously . . . that where there are breaches of [orders], that does absolutely require the gardaí’s attention.”
He was responding to a question as to whether gardaí should investigate and prosecute all breaches of barring orders, given the finding in the report that gardaí in some regions have an “unexplained reluctance . . . to prosecute offences under section 33 of the Domestic Violence Act 2018 for breach of orders granted under that Act”.
The report, jointly commissioned by Department of Justice and National Women’s Council and published on Wednesday, continues: “Such practices instil in perpetrators a sense of immunity from consequence for their violence and can undermine the will of victims to pursue the protective orders” available to them.
Mr Harris said he would “feed back to, and discuss with, gardaí as a result of this report” these concerns.
He described the Report on the Intersection of the Criminal Justice, Private Family Law and Public Law Child Care Processes in Relation to Domestic and Sexual Violence, as “really practical” and said there were recommendations he was “really eager to move on”.
These include the establishment of a domestic violence court register, the establishment of a comprehensive support and accompaniment service for victims navigating the three “arms” of the courts process – the criminal justice, the public child-welfare and the private family-law, and, for a modification of the in-camera rule to ensure victims can discuss their cases with therapeutic and support workers.
The report, compiled by leading experts on domestic and sexual abuse and the legal system, finds women and children are being left in “life-threatening” situations because of a failure of the courts, gardaí and Tusla to collaborate on domestic violence cases.
It says victims are forced to navigate the courts systems alone while being disbelieved by untrained professionals and blamed for the abuse they have suffered.
Mr Harris said he knew the system was complex and perpetrators might “use [the complexity] to their advantage. We know a perpetrator will use the stress of a scenario to try to intimidate a victim and prevent them from persevering with giving their evidence”.
“While we have made much progress, while there is much work under way this report shows how much work needs to be done.” Describing sexual and gender-based violence as an “epidemic”, he said being shocked and appalled was “not enough”.
“It’s what we’re going to do about . . . to make a meaningful difference,” he said.
