Ms Maria McDonald:

The story there is that infringement proceedings have issued against Ireland and 11 other member states, as of December 2016, for a failure to communicate in respect of the victims' directive. That is different to infringement proceedings for not implementing the directive. It is because they have not informed the Commission whatsoever what they are doing. I understand that while Ireland is still outstanding on this issue, a significant number of those member states have now provided communication. Even if they did not communicate it, they actually have legislation in place within their own jurisdictions so they are complying. Even though 11 states seems a lot, it is actually a lot lower, and Ireland is probably one of only a few countries that remain outstanding in not having in place some form of legislation. Just because other member states have legislation in place does not mean the legislation is very good and it does not mean that victims are getting their rights in practice; it just means those countries have put it within the criminal justice system. Once this Bill has passed, Ireland would then communicate on the law because it cannot communicate it until that happens. From speaking with my contacts within the European Commission, restorative justice is a major issue and although I cannot speak for the Commission, based on the victims' directive, it would deem that the absence of the directive in Irish law is obvious and may result in infringement proceedings.

There is another issue around the definition of a victim of crime. The victims' directive includes indirect victims of crime. This would include a child who had witnessed domestic abuse. This may be an oversimplification of it but it gives an example. This is not currently covered within the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Bill 2016 and the Commission may also be concerned about this if the Bill is implemented in its current format. Regardless of whether one reports a crime, a person is entitled to support services and information. Indirect victims such as children are also entitled to that right to information and support services. If they do not fall within that definition then it could cause difficulties at a later date.