The length of time taken to take decisions to prosecute in cases involving Anglo Irish Bank is due to the nature of the adversarial system and not to any lack of resources in his office the Director of Public Prosecutions said today.
James Hamilton told his 12th annual conference yesterday that there were some current misunderstandings about what is happening.
Earlier this month Mr Justice Peter Kelly expressed his concern about the length of time the investigation was taking.“In our system investigators investigate and prosecutors decide whether to prosecute,” Mr Hamilton said. “The prosecutor does not direct the investigation, and, except in minor cases delegated to them, the investigators do not decide whether to prosecute. Only the prosecutor has this function.”
In our system, following the completion of an investigation, the prosecutor prosecutes, the defence defends and the judge adjudicates between the parties, he said. This was in contrast to inquisitorial systems where the judge supervises the work of the prosecutor.
He said the investigation into Anglo Irish Bank was unusual in one respect, in that, because of the complex and extensive nature of the investigation, it was agreed between him, the Office of Corporate Enforcement and the Garda authorities that files might be sent to his office in advance of the completion of the investigation. This was so that the DPP’s office could begin to consider it before the completion of the investigation.
Referring to the issue of resources, he said when the scale of the investigation became apparent before the last election he sought additional resources and was given a small but significant number of lawyers on short-term contract. When he had sought additional resources from the Department of Finance in the past he had always found it and the Government willing to engage with his requests.
Here had always been an understanding that a functioning of a criminal justice system was not an optional extra, it was a core function of the state.
“The fact that a prosecution decision has not yet been taken is not due to any question of lack of resources. If the situation changes in the future and I need additional resources I will not be slow to ask for them,” he said.
Referring to his decision three years ago to introduce a pilot scheme giving reasons for decisions not to prosecute in cases where people had died, he said he had received 19 such requests so far, of which 14 were fatal road accidents.
In 10 cases detailed reasons were given. In three of the cases where the request was declined cases arising from the deaths were before the courts. In the fourth case the matter was still being investigated actively by the Gardai. Five other cases were still pending.
While 19 requests were less than expected, it was not an insignificant number and he hoped the response gave some comfort to the bereaved families.
He said it was his intention to extend the scheme to cases involving serious sexual crimes, almost certainly on a phased. The principal obstacle to its attainment is a problem of resources, and each request inevitably involves a review of the whole case by a different official from the one who made the original decision.
Commenting on the events of the past week, Mr Hamilton said that the arrest of Radko Mladic “brings joy to the heart of any prosecutor, and there is no shame in saying that.”