The number of rape and sexual assault cases coming before the Central Criminal Court in Dublin fell last year for the third year in succession.
However, the number of murder cases continued to rise, according to the latest figures. They also show that the court continues to get through more cases each year.
The 2002 figures were compiled by the Registrar of the Central Criminal Court, and will become part of the overall court statistics for 2002 when they are published later in the year.
They include figures for the cases listed for 2003, which show that most serious crimes emanates from Dublin, with Cork coming second. There are 232 rape and murder cases listed for 2003, not all of which will be heard.
Limerick ranks second in the number of murder cases pending, with 12 cases coming up in 2003, compared to 30 from Dublin. There are 72 murder trials listed for this year, compared with 160 trials for rape.
Fifty-eight of the rape cases originate in Dublin, and 18 in Cork. Galway comes next with 12 cases listed, and all other cities and towns, including Limerick, have only a handful of rape cases pending.
The number of rape and sexual assault cases received in 2002 was 82, compared with 92 in 2001. This represented a fall from a high of 130 in both 1998 and 1999.
The number of rape cases received was 55, up from 31 last year. In 2000 the figure was 42, but in the previous four years the figure ranged between 25 and 33. The total number of cases received last year was 137.
There is always a divergence between the number of cases received and those completed, as some cases are always outstanding at the end of each year. In 2002, 145 cases were completed, up from 131 the previous year. This is part of a general year-on-year upward trend in the number of cases completed each year, starting in 1996, when 71 cases were completed. There were 216 cases still outstanding at the end of 2002, a small drop on the figure for 2001, which was 224.
The analysis of what happened in the various cases is based on those completed, and this shows that there were guilty pleas in 55 cases. Three were tried summarily, 19 were quashed and 53 went to trial. The jury disagreed in three cases and in another three the accused died.
More than half (26) of the 47 cases involving murder went to a jury trial. Three resulted in guilty but insane verdicts, and 13 people were convicted of murder. Eight were convicted of manslaughter, and there were two decisions not to proceed with the murder prosecution, although the accused was convicted of other offences. In one case the jury disagreed and a retrial was ordered.
This conviction rate in jury trials for murder contrasts sharply with the conviction rate for contested rape trials. Of the 91 rape and sexual assault cases that went for hearing, 42 resulted in a guilty plea and 30 went for jury trial. 10 cases were quashed and there was a non-prosecution decision in four, with two cases ending in the jury disagreeing.
In 12 of the 30 contested cases the accused was acquitted, while in six others he was cleared of rape but convicted of sexual assault. Including the cases which were quashed or where the prosecution withdrew the case, the majority of cases where there was no guilty plea ended in acquittal.
Most murder cases lasted about 10 days, with those involving false imprisonment, firearms offences or rape in addition to the murder charge taking longer. The longest case was one involving rape and murder, which took 27 days.