The Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP), Clair Loftus has expressed concern over delays during criminal trials and the traumatic effect they have on victims of crime, stating that new laws need to be introduced to minimise these delays.
The DPPs comments were in relation to announcements that a new Criminal Justice Bill was planned and would tackle delays associated with white collar criminal trials. However, in the DPP’s Annual Report 2016, concern was expressed over the need for “effective disposal of issues prior to trial in less complex cases” and that “it can be particularly traumatic for victims if delays and adjournments occur”.
The proposed Criminal Justice Bill intends to include provisions for pre-trial hearings, which would reduce delays caused by the trial being hampered by legal arguments, in turn reducing costs and the likelihood of losing jury members. These delays have most notably been a feature in white collar criminal trials, including the longest criminal trial in Irish history, that of Sean Fitzpatrick on allegations of concealing loans, the delays in which were mainly due to legal arguments being made in the absence of a jury.
The DPP however has expressed that the new proposed legislation should have a much wider application to cases other than those of white collar crime. The 2016 annual report showed that the office of the DPP spend over €14 million prosecuting cases, 40% of which did not result in a prosecution and just over half of which was spent prosecuting at Circuit Court level. Much of the costs incurred from prosecuting cases could be reduced by removing delays, which could be brought about if the proposed pre-trial provisions were extended to include other cases than white collar crime. The DPP expressed her hope that the final form of the provisions on pre-trial hearings “will have sufficient robustness to make a meaningful difference to the processing of all indictable cases through the courts”.
Click here for the full annual report from the DPPs Office.