The DPP's report shows that the criminal justice system works, writes Carol Coulter.
Some recent comments on crime and the prosecution of crime give the impression that the State is powerless against criminals, and that they are "laughing at the guards" and the prosecution service.
The figures do not bear this out. Last year 95 per cent of the cases sent forward for prosecution by the Director of Public Prosecutions (DPP) resulted in convictions. Nine out of 10 of them resulted in a guilty plea.
Despite the requirement in our legal system only to convict when the evidence pointed towards guilt "beyond all reasonable doubt", only 2 per cent were acquitted by a jury, with a further 3 per cent acquitted by direction of the trial judge, who decided that there was no legal basis for a conviction.
Of course, not all files sent to the DPP result in a prosecution. In 2004, 40 per cent did not, a similar figure to the decisions not to prosecute in the two preceding years.
As director James Hamilton told The Irish Times in an interview last year, the decision to prosecute is taken only when supported by enough evidence to be reasonably sure of obtaining a conviction. In three out of four of the cases where it was decided not to prosecute, the decision was based on there not being enough evidence.
Other reasons include delay, the death or disappearance of the suspect or the complainant, or the refusal of the complainant to give evidence.
The vast majority of criminal offences are relatively minor. The Solicitors' Division of the DPP's office deals with those files that are not considered sufficiently serious to go to the Directing Division for decision, and these include cases prosecuted in the District Court, appeals from the District Court to the Circuit Court and bail applications.
The Directing Division of the DPP's office deals with more serious or complex files, but even here about half of the 60 per cent that end in prosecution are dealt with summarily in the District Court, which can impose a maximum sentence of only one year.
Of the 14,589 files received by the DPP's office in 2004, only 2,619 were prosecuted on indictment in the Circuit or Central Criminal Court.
It is from such crimes, however, that headlines are drawn. They include unlawful killings, assaults, rapes and sexual offences, and serious robberies.
While those who face the courts as a result of being charged with such offences are highly likely to be convicted, there is concern that sometimes not enough evidence can be collected to mount a prosecution.
The DPP's report outlines some of the legal problems that can arise in the collection of evidence.
The use of breath-testing in drunk-driving cases, for example, was the subject of a number of legal challenges during the year.
The use of children's evidence was the subject of a conference involving child psychiatrists and social workers, as well gardaí and officials from the DPP's office.
According to the report, "the many legal obstacles arising at various states of the process, together with the rights of the defendant which have to be vindicated, can result in significant trauma for the child witness".
It also drew attention to the fact that professionals working in the area had discovered that children can recall the details of an incident in more detail every time they recount it. This presents particular problems for prosecutors as, for legal reasons, they must rest on the earliest account given.
Other reasons for not being able to present enough evidence include a reluctance on the part of witnesses to come forward or to give evidence in court. However, this accounts for only a tiny minority of all the cases dealt with by the Garda and the courts.
There is no doubt that there is a hard core of cases where witnesses will be unwilling to testify - and these are not limited to those emanating from communities with a poor relationship with the Garda. But these form only a minute proportion of all the cases dealt with.
Other problems are posed by the complicated interaction of modern technology, discoveries in child psychology, and our legal traditions. But they are not intractable. All in all, this report shows we have a system which brings to justice the majority of those suspected of criminal offences.