Jack Chambers (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)
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They can ask the DPP for a summary of reasons for the decision not to prosecute and if they are not satisfied with the reasons, they can ask the DPP to review that decision. Since the coming into effect of the victims directive and the subsequent Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Act 2017, victims have the right to a summary of the reasons for the decision not to prosecute in all cases where the decision was made on or after 16 November 2015, subject to some limited exceptions. A victim can also ask for a review of a decision not to prosecute and the review is carried out by a lawyer who was not involved in making the original decision, other than in cases where the director made the decision. In such cases, the director conducts the review and the victims liaison unit in the office of the DPP deals with all requests for reasons and reviews received from victims of crime.

To give people a sense of the numbers of requests for reasons received, in 2021, there were 652; in 2020, it was 698; and in 2019, it was 644. As to requests which were received for review of a decision, in 2021, there were 215; in 2020, it was 220; and in 2019, it was 213.