David Stanton (Cork East, Fine Gael) | Oireachtas source

I thank Deputy O'Callaghan for introducing the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) (Amendment) Bill 2018. He has raised a number of important points. The Government and the Minister for Justice and Equality share his aim of providing greater supports for victims of crime. The Government is committed to ensuring victims of crime are given the information and supports they require. Interacting with the criminal justice system can be very daunting for victims of crime. The Government has worked hard to introduce measures to alleviate the difficulties that victims face when they interact with the criminal justice system. The Minister, Deputy Flanagan, and the Government are conscious that the judicial process should not be a source of further trauma to anyone involved, with respect to the rights of victims and accused persons. Victims must feel confident that they are part of a system that is sensitive and responsive to their needs and does not cause them further harm.

This Bill seeks to amend the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Act 2017 to provide for a solicitor, funded by the Minister for Justice and Equality, to provide relevant information and legal advice to victims of sexual and gender-based violence on the processes and actions required for criminal proceedings to be brought. The Minister for Justice and Equality understands what the Deputy is seeking to achieve with this proposal. There is merit in those aims. I believe this proposal should be viewed in the context of existing supports that already provide for some of these aims. The 2017 Act already requires the Garda Síochána to provide every victim of crime with information on the criminal justice process and the role of the victim within it. The proposed amendment would require this information to be given to the victim a second time by a solicitor. I remind the House that a number of legal advice and legal aid services are already available to victims of sexual violence. The Legal Aid Board offers an advice service to victims who wish to seek advice in cases involving a prosecution for rape or aggravated sexual assault. This is separate from the provision of legal representation for a victim in a case in which his or her prior sexual history is raised by the accused. Both of these services are available without a means test and are free of charge. Late last year, legislation was put in place to abolish the requirement for a financial contribution by applicants for civil legal aid in domestic violence cases in the District Court.

The Government is committed to improving the supports and protections available to victims of crime, particularly victims of sexual violence and domestic violence. This commitment was evident in a number of Bills which passed through these Houses in recent times. The Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Act 2017 explicitly recognises, for the first time in Irish law, the rights of victims of crime. This Act gives victims the right to comprehensive information on the criminal justice system, including their role within it, as well as information concerning the progress of the investigation and any court proceedings. The Act provides for every victim to have his or her needs individually assessed to determine what specific advice and supports he or she would benefit from during the investigation and trial process. The Domestic Violence Act 2018 significantly enhances the legal protections available to victims of domestic violence. Among other measures, it criminalises non-violent coercive control in an intimate relationship, allows for an emergency barring order to be applied for in a case in which the victim lives with the adult perpetrator and enables a court to prohibit a perpetrator from communicating electronically with the victim. The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017 has strengthened the law to protect children in our society. This Act enhances and updates the laws combatting sexual exploitation and sexual abuse of children. New provisions introduced in the Act include new offences regarding child sexual grooming and measures to tackle child pornography.

These three Acts have introduced a number of measures to better protect victims during the trial process and to provide for special protection measures for victims where this is deemed appropriate. These measures include greater potential for the use of screens and video evidence. Provisions to regulate for the prevention of cross-examination by an accused person have also been introduced for victims of sexual offences and domestic violence, with new rules provided for the disclosure of third-party counselling records in sexual offence cases. To further assist victims during the trial process, victims under these Acts are entitled to be accompanied in court by support workers. To maximise the benefit for victims from these legislative reforms, the Department of Justice and Equality is providing €1.712 million in 2018 to fund services to victims of crime. This is administered by the Department's victims of crime office. In addition, Tusla, which is the primary State funding agency in this area, is providing €23.8 million to support services for victims of domestic and sexual violence. Among these services, Tusla provides funding for rape crisis centres and refuges.

Following the recent considerable legislative reforms in this area, new structures and arrangements are being put in place across the criminal justice agencies to make the system more victim-oriented. A victims' support group, chaired by the Department of Justice and Equality, is in place to co-ordinate the work of the various criminal justice agencies in progressing towards the full implementation of the EU victims directive and the related victims of crime legislation. One of these new structures is the Garda victims' service office in every Garda division, which is responsible for communicating with victims and prioritising their needs. These offices ensure each victim of crime is kept informed of the progress of his or her case and of the supports which are available to him or her. These offices are staffed by dedicated and specially trained personnel who operate to a standard operating procedure.

In addition to the Garda victims' service offices, the work of the Garda national protective services bureau and the roll-out of the Garda divisional protective service units will significantly strengthen the Garda response in dealing with domestic, sexual and gender-based crime. These new units, which are part of the wider Garda modernisation and renewal programme, will be staffed by gardaí with specialised training and expertise to provide advice, guidance and assistance to gardaí who investigate specific categories of crime. These units will work to ensure a more professional and consistent quality in the policing service in supporting victims of these crimes. The units are being rolled out on a phased basis, starting with three divisions - Louth, Dublin metropolitan region west and Cork city - and the full expansion of these units to all divisions is expected by the end of next year. Victim liaison supports are in place in the Prison Service, the Probation Service and the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions.

On the courts side, new customised victims' facilities have been introduced as we have been upgrading and modernising our courts infrastructure. As part of the second national strategy on domestic, sexual and gender-based violence, a national awareness raising campaign has been under way aimed at attitudinal and societal change to support the prevention of domestic and sexual violence. This campaign utilises a high-impact media approach to reach and inform a national audience about these issues. I was interested in what Deputy O'Callaghan said earlier about increased reporting. We need to do some research here to see whether this awareness campaign has had an impact in this regard. There is a need for a high impact. It may well be the case that people are coming forward and reporting because of this campaign.

While a great deal of work has been done to enhance protections and supports for victims of crime, the Minister for Justice and Equality recognises that more improvements are needed. To that end, the Minister has established a working group to review the adequacy of the mechanisms available in law and practice to protect vulnerable witnesses during the investigation and prosecution of sexual offences. Mr. Tom O'Malley, who is a senior lecturer in law at NUI Galway and a member of the Law Reform Commission, has been appointed to chair this working group, which consists of experts from relevant areas including the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions, the Courts Service, the Probation Service, An Garda Síochána and the criminal law reform division of the Department of Justice and Equality. The terms of reference for the review have been published. They include, among other things, the provision of practical supports for victims through the reporting, investigation and trial processes and an examination of the provision of additional legal supports to witnesses during the court processes. This expert forum is considering the issues raised by this Bill. I understand that its report should be available by the end of this year.

As I have said, the Government agrees with Deputy O'Callaghan's aims. The enhancement of protections and supports for vulnerable victims is very important to the Government and, I take it, to everyone in this House, including the Minister for Justice and Equality. While the Government is not opposing this Bill, I encourage all Members of this House, including Deputy O'Callaghan, to await the outcome of the review that is under way on the protections that are available to victims of sexual offences and to take that review into account as this Bill makes progress through the Houses. The consultative nature of that review and the expertise available will help to ensure the additional supports we provide for victims are those which will be of most benefit to them.

I expect the report to be available shortly.

The House's debate is adding to this important subject and we are interested in hearing what colleagues have to say on this issue.

See this speech in context