THE FEES paid to counsel for prosecuting cases on behalf of the Director of Public Prosecutions rose by €1.5 million between 2008 and 2009, according to the annual report of the DPP, despite a reduction in the level of fees during that time. The report is published online today.
The fees cover advising on proofs, drafting indictments, holding consultations, arraignments and presentation of the case, and rose from €13,726,326 in 2008 to €15,283,338 in 2009.
During this time, the number of files received in the directing division of the DPP’s office rose from 8,433 to 9,170. The number of files disposed of also rose, from 11,493 to 12,115. Of these, 30 per cent proceeded to a trial on indictment in the Circuit or Central Criminal Court, and 4,269 to summary disposal in the District Court. In 33 per cent of cases, totalling 4,114, there was a decision not to prosecute.
This is a slight fall on the previous year, where there was a decision not to prosecute in 35 per cent of cases. The main reason was insufficient evidence, which was the reason not to prosecute in 70 per cent of the cases.
The injured party withdrew the complaint in 5 per cent of cases, and it was considered not to be in the public interest to prosecute in a further 6 per cent.
Other reasons included sympathetic grounds, time limit expiring or undue delay.
In October 2008, the DPP launched a new scheme whereby the families of the victims of murder and dangerous driving causing death could, if there was no prosecution, obtain from the DPP a summary of reasons not to prosecute, subject to certain conditions.
This was launched on a pilot basis, with the possibility of extending the scheme following an evaluation planned for January 2010. However, according to the report, because of the length of time between the occurrence of an incident and the eventual decision not to prosecute, the number of requests received so far has been quite low, so it has been decided to extend the pilot phase until there are enough requests to enable a comprehensive evaluation.
The vast majority of cases tried on indictment result in a conviction, with only 2 per cent of those charged being acquitted of all charges, according to the report.
Only 3 per cent of convictions resulted from a trial and a jury decision, with 93 per cent of those charged and tried pleading guilty.
In 2 per cent of cases, there was an acquittal on direction of the trial judge.
The office also began a research project with the Garda Síochána on “femicide”, analysing data on women killed by an intimate male partner, with a view to identifying risk factors. It also reviewed the recent innovation where legal representation could be provided to victims of rape where an application could be made to introduce their previous sexual history as evidence. It found an increase in applications for such representation.
The report also contains a section outlining a number of cases where there were legal developments during the year.
These included several cases where a person accused of drink-driving and sent for trial to the District Court challenged the prosecution through judicial review in the High Court. The examples given show the High Court to be unwilling to accept technical slips in the process of taking breath or blood samples, or in the wording of the arrest, as providing a basis to prohibit the trial.
The report also outlines how the office has coped with cuts in its budget, mainly by reducing office expenses by more than half.
KEY FIGURES
€15,283,338 The fees paid to counsel for prosecuting cases for the DPP in 2009, an increase of €1,557,012.
9,170 The number of files received in the directing division of DPP’s office in 2009, an increase of 737.
2% The percentage of those charged being acquitted of all charges.