The Director of Public Prosecutions, James Hamilton, yesterday launched two new booklets explaining the functions of his office and advising people who attend court as witnesses.
The booklets are available in eight foreign languages and can be obtained at Garda stations, libraries, citizen information centres or through victim support organisations.
The Role of the DPP, which sets out in clear language how crimes are investigated and, if necessary, brought to trial, explains why the DPP does not reveal the reasons for his decisions on whether or not to bring prosecutions.
"In many cases, giving a reason in public could amount to condemning a person without a trial," it reads. "For example, the reason a person was not prosecuted might be because a key witness was abroad and would not come back to give evidence. But to say this publicly would be like saying that the accused was guilty even though he or she did not have a trial."
In some cases, the reason may be one that would be unfair to make public, such as the medical condition of a witness. If reasons were given in some cases but not in others, people might "jump to the wrong conclusions" about cases where no reason was given.
Last February, the DPP confirmed that he was reviewing this policy of not providing reasons for his decisions other than to the Garda or other investigating agencies.
A spokeswoman for the DPP's office said yesterday that the review was ongoing and may be completed by March.
