THE DIRECTOR of Public Prosecutions has decided to give reasons for decisions not to prosecute to the families of victims of crimes involving death. This will apply to alleged offences committed after today.
The decision follows a nine-month consultation process begun by a discussion document on the subject published by the DPP, James Hamilton, last January.
The offences concerned will cover murder, manslaughter, infanticide, fatalities in the workplace and fatal traffic accidents. Reasons will be given in writing, on written request, to members of the deceased's family or household, their legal or medical advisers or social workers acting on their behalf.
However, reasons may not be given where this could expose potential witnesses or others to injustice by taking their good name; reveal the identity or existence of confidential sources, or have an adverse effect on law enforcement. The letters to the families will be covered by qualified privilege, but such privilege will not attach to the media or others who might publish them.
The policy will be monitored and evaluated, and is likely to be extended to other serious crimes, notably sexual offences, in the light of feedback.
Mr Hamilton told The Irish Times that there may be some disappointment that rape cases were not included. "However, I prefer to do it incrementally. You learn things as you go, and until you start you don't know how resource-intensive it will be.
"I would have preferred to have had a small dedicated unit to do it, but that is not possible in the light of recent budgetary restrictions."
The DPP's office handles about 250 files involving death every year, but the majority of these are quite straightforward, he said. They include all fatal road traffic accidents, which must be referred to his office, even where only one vehicle was involved and the driver dies. In homicides, it is rare that there is an identifiable suspect and he or she is not prosecuted, he said. Already a victim's family can ask for a decision not to prosecute to be reviewed, and they frequently are, he said.
"There might be a question of deciding between a charge of murder or manslaughter. If the question arises of the accused taking a plea to a lesser charge during a trial we would already inform the family, though that would not decide the issue. A question might emerge of a witness not swearing up, or the defence of provocation might turn out much stronger than expected."
Most traffic accidents involving deaths were quite contentious, he said, as the family was understandably very upset. However, often there were two accounts of what happened, and no objective evidence to back one side, so it was difficult to prove manslaughter or dangerous driving causing death beyond reasonable doubt.
He said that his office was preparing a manual on how to deal with requests, and was drafting templates of letters. Decisions involving prosecutions for murder and manslaughter already involved three or four people, so he did not anticipate change in this process. However, there was likely to be change in the recording of the different stages of the decision, and in the keeping of records of the deceased, including the identity of the next of kin.