A major report on the jurisdiction of the courts will today recommend that rape and murder cases can be tried in the Circuit Court, The Irish Times has learned. Carol Coulter, Legal Affairs Correspondent, reports
If taken on board by the Government, the recommendation would greatly reduce the current waiting time of almost two years for the hearing of serious cases in the Central Criminal Court.
The report, which will be handed to the Minister for Justice, Mr McDowell, today, is the first on the jurisdiction of the criminal courts since the foundation of the State.
Under the Constitution, all but minor criminal offences are tried before judge and jury, usually in the Circuit Court.
Under law all rape and murder cases must go to the Central Criminal Court. This has meant that complex fraud cases, for example, are tried in the Circuit Court, but all rapes and murders, even if the circumstances are straightforward and there is a guilty plea, go to the Central Criminal Court, presided over by Mr Justice Carney.
Despite the supplementing of this court by other High Court judges, the increasing volume of such cases has still meant that the waiting times for trial has been close to two years.
The report also recommends preliminary hearings to settle many of the questions that often result in a case being dragged out for a long time with legal challenges.
These questions include the issue of whether the prosecution has made full disclosure of its evidence to the defence; the admissibility of certain evidence, such as confession evidence; and issues surrounding insanity or fitness to plead.
Matters such as the use of a video-link, the need for interpreters and other practical arrangements could be dealt with in such a preliminary hearing.
The report from a working group of lawyers and senior members of the judiciary, chaired by Supreme Court judge, Mr Justice Fennelly, is also expected to recommend that a mechanism be devised to issue sentencing guidelines to judges at all levels. However, it is not expected that firm proposals on sentencing will come in the report. Instead, it is expected to recommend further detailed study of the complex and controversial area of consistency in sentencing.
It is one of a number of reports on the jurisdiction of the courts being undertaken at the moment. The question of the jurisdiction of the different levels of the criminal courts has been discussed for some time, especially as waiting times for trial in the Central Criminal Court has crept up to close to two years.
Mr Justice Carney has previously sought a realignment of jurisdiction to allow some rapes and murders be tried in the Circuit Court, while sending complex fraud cases to the Central. It is expected that the Fennelly working group, of which he is a member, will agree with him.
It will recommend that rapes and murders can be tried in the Circuit Court, depending on their complexity and seriousness, the wishes of victims, considerations of anonymity, possible intimidation of juries and the convenience of witnesses. Cases come initially before the District Court, where they are dealt with summarily, if they are minor, and go forward for trial to one of the higher courts if they are more serious. The report is likely to examine the extent of the right to trial by jury, which at the moment is not universal, and may recommend its extension to all cases.