Dublin Rape Crisis Centre calls for complainants to be given legal representation

The Dublin Rape Crisis Centre has said that giving rape complainants access to their own legal representation needs to be part of a wider overhaul of the system.

The Fianna Fáil proposal follows concerns raised in the Belfast trial.

Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan has already announced a review of how such trials are carried out.

CEO of the DRCC Noeline Blackwell said that the current system leaves victims in a very vulnerable position.

"The complainant, who may never have been in court before, who has no court experience, who has no skill in dealing with it, is on their own," she said.

"This is a person's life, man or woman, they're telling their life, and telling the most intimate details of their life, and they don't have the same level of support."

- Digital desk