State ordered to pay €12,500 to family of man over delay in sex assault trial

THE European Court of Human Rights has ordered the state to pay compensation totalling in excess of €12,500 to the family of a deceased Cork man who successfully argued that his rights to a fair trial on a charge of sexual assault were affected by delays in bringing the case to trial.

The Strasbourg-based court ruled that the Government failed to put forward any fact or argument to persuade it that there had not been an unreasonable delay in the length of proceedings against the man.

The ECHR said the length of the proceedings was “excessive” and failed to meet “reasonable time” requirements, which meant that the case had breached the European Convention of Human Rights on two grounds.