Fears victims of crime will lose out

An umbrella group of victims’ organisations has warned Ireland is to breach this November’s deadline for full implementation of an EU directive on the rights of victims of crime.

The Victims’ Rights Alliance said the Government had failed to publish draft legislation on the issue and that “little progress” had been made to provide training within the State’s police, prosecution, and courts structures.

The comments come just days after Justice Minister Frances Fitzgerald told the Fine Gael convention the Government was “putting the victim at the heart of the justice system”.

She said she was going to bring in legislation this year which would allow for the implementation of the EU Victims Directive.

“With an estimated 100,000 crimes involving victims in Ireland every year, it is vital that all victims of crime should be supported in the immediate aftermath of the crime and for as long as is necessary afterwards,” said barrister Maria McDonald of VRA.

“The Government had committed to implementing the EU directive on victims’ rights by November, but very little progress seems to have been made and we are very concerned that the deadline will be missed. If that happens, little will change for Irish victims of crime and they will continue to go through unnecessary stress and trauma.”

The VRA said that if the directive was not fully implemented by November 16 there would be a number of knock-on effects for victims, including to services, like counselling.

It said little progress had been made to ensure training was provided to An Garda Síochána, the office of the DPP and the Courts Service.

“Minister Fitzgerald has spoken as recently as the Fine Gael [convention] about putting the victim at the heart of the Justice system,” said Ms McDonald. “We would call on the minister to clearly articulate a timeline for the Heads of Bill to be published and when victims will be guaranteed minimum rights to information, support and protection under the directive.

“To introduce significant change in organisations with hundreds or even thousands of staff, operating in already complex environments, requires time, energy, and commitment and we are concerned that supports such as victims support offices in every Garda division will not be effective without additional resources being made available to the Gardaí and victim support services.”

The VRA comprises groups including Advocates for Victims of Homicide, the Gay and Lesbian Equality Network, and the Immigrant Council of Ireland.

victimsrightsalliance.com