Alan Shatter (Dublin South, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

Independence for prosecutors is a key principle underpinning the rule of law in the international standards set by the Council of Europe, the UN and the International Association of Prosecutors. The independence of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions is set out in section 2(5) of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1974 which states: “The Director shall be independent in the performance of his functions”.

The Office is accountable to the Committee on Public Accounts for administrative and statistical matters in accordance with section 67(7) of the Houses of the Oireachtas (Inquiries, Privileges and Procedures) Act 2013. The Director of Public Prosecutions is also accountable to the courts for her actions.

The Office of the DPP also provides reasons to victims’ families and close associates for its decisions not to prosecute in certain cases involving death through a project which was initiated in 2008. Speaking about the reasons project in 2008, Mr. James Hamilton said:

the Director of Public Prosecutions prosecutes on behalf of the People as a whole, on behalf of society, not on behalf of individual victims. For this reason I think the concept of accountability is not the appropriate concept to use when discussing the Office’s relationship to victims. There is not and will not be accountability to victims in the sense that we will regard ourselves as bound by their wishes or will allow them to determine how cases should proceed... The fundamental idea behind the change in policy is one of fairness, not of accountability.

The Department of Justice and Equality has no legal or administrative role in relation to the administration of the Office of the DPP and there is no provision in the Government’s legislative programme for any amendment of the Prosecution of Offences Act 1974. However, the EU directive on the rights, support and protection of victims of crime includes a requirement for victims to be informed of a decision not to prosecute and the reasons for the decision, Article 6, and for a review of a decision not to prosecute, Article 11. I will be bringing forward legislation to transpose the directive, and the provisions relating to these aspects will be developed in consultation with the Attorney General and the Director of Public Prosecutions. I hope to bring forward that legislation in 2015.

See this speech in context