Judges will have to listen to victims of crime in certain cases before deciding whether or not to grant bail to an accused.

Plans to release 1,200 prisoners over the next three years to tackle chronic overcrowding are putting the financial crisis and criminals before innocent people, a victims’ group has warned.

A SUPPORT group for families bereaved by homicide has issued guidelines for relatives giving victim impact statements in court.

IRELAND has the highest homicide rate of young men in western Europe and the second highest rate of knife killings, according to the World Health Organisation.

CLAIMS by convicted murderers Peter Whelan and Paul Lynch that the mandatory life term for murder breaches their rights under the Constitution and European Convention on Human Rights were unanimously dismissed by the Supreme Court yesterday.

THE group representing the families of murder victims have said the criminal justice system ranks drug crime as more serious than manslaughter and has questioned the value placed on human life.

THE most senior criminal judge in the country has sparked controversy over his comments on knife crime and the immigrant community.

VICTIM support groups and Fine Gael have led calls for the mandatory use of victim impact statements in murder trials.

A group that provides support to families and friends of people who have died from murder or manslaughter has said the current law defining murder needs to be changed.

A GROUP representing families of homicide victims yesterday called on the Government to give them the legal right to make victim impact statements.