Vol. 499 No. 5
48 Mr. Flanagan asked the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform the average length of time between the reporting of an alleged rape and the criminal trial of consequent proceedings in court; his views on the time scale in this regard; and if he will make a statement on the matter. [27312/98]
The prosecution of offences and the preparation and presentation of prosecution cases are functions which are prescribed in law on the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP). As the Deputy will appreciate the DPP is independent in the discharge of his statutory duties.
As the Deputy will be aware the length of time between the reporting of an alleged rape and any possible future court proceedings is determined by a number of factors. Under the Criminal Law Rape (Amendment) Act, 1990, section 10, all charges of murder, rape and serious sexual assault must be tried by the Central Criminal Court. which sits at the Four Courts. Until 1996 there were only two judges hearing cases in the Central Criminal Court, but since December 1998 there have been four judges available to hear cases in this court.
There are currently 130 rape cases returned to the Central Criminal Court for hearing. This represents a significant increase on previous years and, while this figure represents an increase in the incidence of rape, it is also explained by an increased willingness on the part of victims to report crimes. In other words, it is necessary to bear in mind, in looking at recent rape statistics that a number of historic cases are included amongst them.
The Deputy will be aware that there are two relevant research projects currently under way. One project under the auspices of the Garda research unit will, inter alia, give us more information on how rape cases are investigated and handled by the Garda Síochána and another one which my Department has commissioned will give us information, from the victim's perspective, on what the obstacles are which may deter an individual from reporting rape or from progressing through the system to court.
There are, at present, three trial lists operating in the Central Criminal Court. List one deals with cases requiring the use of video link systems and the average delay is around 11.5 months. In November last year an additional courtroom and video link unit was provided in the Four Courts and I expect that this will contribute to reducing waiting times further.
The second list deals with cases not requiring video link units and the approximate waiting time is 11 months. These cases have a definite date for that set and a factor taken into account is that the accused is already in custody. List three comprises cases given a provisional trial date and is operated around the availability of judges and are cases which can be heard if other cases are finished prematurely due to various factors such as guilty pleas, etc. The average length of waiting times in these instances is approximately 7.5 months.
There are, of course, other factors which can have an influence on or contribute to delays in cases reaching court such as the availability of witnesses, prosecution and defence counsel.
