Sexual assault survivors to protest outside Dáil over use of counselling notes in trials

Rape Crisis Ireland executive director Cliona Saidlear (pictured) said survivors and advocates are demanding 'what ultimately should be in place — a ban'. File photo: RollingNews.ie

Survivors of sexual offences will gather outside Leinster House on Wednesday to protest against the use of counselling notes in sex assault trials.

While survivors and therapists are calling for a complete ban on the use of counselling notes, legislation being debated on Wednesday night proposes the use of counselling notes in trials only being permitted where there is a risk of an unfair trial.

The Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill has been scrutinised at committee level and comes back before the Dáil after 8pm.

If passed, the legislation will mean that the decision on whether to allow the records as evidence will lie with judges after disclosure hearings to establish if the notes contain evidence relevant to the legal proceedings.

Justice minister Jim O’Callaghan has said that legal advice from the Attorney General is that “a complete ban on the disclosure of counselling records in court would be incompatible with the Constitution, in particular the constitutional guarantee of a fair trial and the presumption of innocence, and would likely give rise to legal challenges that could jeopardise convictions”.

Rape Crisis Ireland executive director Cliona Saidlear said survivors and advocates are demanding “what ultimately should be in place — a ban”.

“This legislation is about what we can do now. But it absolutely does not go far enough because it does not answer that fundamental thing that a survivor should just not have the State and the justice system in the counselling room with them. 

"It shouldn’t arise. But when there is a prosecution for this crime, we are in a situation of a balancing of rights,” she said.

Sex-for-rent

Meanwhile, the legislation also includes a ban on sex-for-rent offers, with two proposed offences — the offering of accommodation in exchange for sexual activity, and the advertising of accommodation in exchange for sexual activity.

The legislation follows an investigation in the Irish Examiner, which found several online accommodation advertisements for sex-for-rent arrangements in December 2021.

Brian Hearne, policy and communications manager at the Irish Council for International Students (ICOS) and member of the Coalition, said: "For too long, vulnerable renters, including low-income women, migrants and international students, have been exposed to coercion, abuse and harm from unscrupulous predators without adequate safeguards or recourse.”