THE MINISTER for Justice Dermot Ahern has announced a new Victims’ Charter, replacing that established in 1999.
He also announced the fast-tracking of the Criminal Procedure Bill, which alters the rules relating to double jeopardy, permitting retrials in certain circumstances. The Bill was introduced in the Dáil last February.
Mr Ahern was speaking at the dinner of the International Academy of Trial Lawyers in Dublin on Saturday night. He told delegates that last week he had obtained the approval of the Cabinet for the new Victims Charter, which will incorporate a number of measures already in place and contain concrete commitments from a number of organisations in the criminal justice system, including the Garda Síochána, the DPP, the Courts Service and the Legal Aid Board.
The Minister said he will fast-track the Criminal Procedure Bill 2009 to enable it to pass through the Oireachtas by the end of the current term.
The Bill permits retrials where the defendant has been acquitted but where the acquittal can be shown to have been undeserved due to the emergence of new and compelling evidence, or because there was interference with the trial process that affected the verdict or where the judge erred in law by, for example, excluding certain evidence.
The Bill also amends the current law in relation to victim impact statements, allowing family members of murder victims to address the court. Previously only the victim of a crime was permitted to address the court following the verdict and prior to sentencing.
Family members could only do so at the discretion of the trial judge.
“In future, families of homicide victims or those whose relatives are incapacitated by the crime will have a statutory right to speak about the impact not only on the victim, but also on themselves as families,” Mr Ahern said.
“Special arrangements are also being made for child victims and for victims who cannot appear in person, television links will be available in such cases.” The new Bill also gives the court powers to prohibit the publication of any “inappropriate remarks made in the course of an oral statement”.
The Bill also alters the rules on character evidence. “A defendant who attacks the character of a deceased or incapacitated victim risks dropping the shield and, as a result, his own previous character may come into question,” Mr Ahern said.
The Minister said that the new measures would refocus the criminal justice system around the needs of the victims of crime.
“I emphasise that this enhancement in the position afforded to victims within the criminal justice system is being achieved without in any way diminishing the long-established rights of an accused to, for example, a presumption of innocence,” he said.
He said the new Victims’ Charter gives definitive commitments to the victim of crime on behalf of the eight main criminal justice agencies (the Garda, courts, DPP, probation, prisons, Legal Aid Board, Coroner Service and criminal injuries compensation tribunal).
“It gives clear contact points in each organisation if it does not live up to the expectations of the victim. I hope to formally launch the Charter in the very near future,” he said.
Among the commitments given are the presence of family liaison officers in the Garda Síochána for all serious cases involving death; gay liaison officers for dealing with homophobic crimes; an ethnic liaison officer and the monitoring of racial incidents; victims may be invited to relevant meetings where young offenders are being diverted in the Garda Diversion Programme; the DPP has already launched a project for giving reasons for decisions not to prosecute in cases involving death; the Legal Aid Board can represent the victims of rape in relation to the admission of their sexual history into evidence and the Criminal Injuries Compensation Board now has a victims’ charter.