Unacceptable delay in rape cases to be tackled by government

Published: Thursday, May 24, 2012

Rape Crisis Network Ireland (RCNI) Press Release

23rd May 2012

The time for Pre-trial Hearings has come and will be of great significance to rape victims

Rape Crisis Network Ireland welcomes the Government's Legislative Programme inclusion of a Criminal Procedure Bill: To provide for the reform of pre-trial processes, and the DPP's call for pre-trial procedures at the recent Prosecutors' Conference.

Executive Director Fiona Neary said, 'the impact of delay in court cases cannot be underestimated for victims of sexual violence. Many victims are waiting years for their case to reach court and simply cannot move on with their lives. For other victims it is a factor in deciding whether or not to report at all. The government's recent commitment to a Bill supporting a system for pre-trial hearings, and case management such that many factors that currently contribute to delays are promptly addressed, is to be welcomed. We have lobbied long and hard for such reform.

The RCNI believe that the average length of time from return for trial to the trial taking place in the Central Criminal Court could be reduced significantly from the unacceptable high of over 16 months, as found by the RCNI commissioned research RAJI (2009). Through effective pre-trial procedures this delay could be reduced to 3 - 6 months, in line with that existing in other jurisdictions.

'RCNI has long recognised that delays in progressing cases to court, is in many instances a preventable trauma for survivors of sexual violence. Research also shows that delay impacts significantly on the pursuit of justice in rape and sexual assault cases. For these reasons the reform of legal practice and policy with regard to delay has been central to RCNI's legal advocacy for the past 4 years.'

Following an examination of procedure in other countries, RCNI proposed pre-trial procedures as a vital part of the solution to the problem of delay in June 2008, in its submission on the National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence 2010-2014. Following its welcome inclusion for examination in the National Strategy, RCNI worked through the National Steering Committee on Violence against Women to progress a detailed discussion paper on pre-trial hearings to completion, with the help of other stakeholders including senior lawyers.

RCNI will continue to advance this theme through formal and informal inter-agency structures including working with Cosc, the National Office for the Prevention of Domestic, Sexual and Gender-Based Violence and other agencies to build on the growing consensus in favour of pre-trial procedures across the criminal justice system.'