The prosecution of offences relating to child pornography will be the theme of the fifth National Prosecutors' Conference, hosted annually by the Director of Public Prosecutions. Carol Coulter, Legal Affairs Correspondent, reports.
The theme was arranged in advance of the dramatic collapse recently of the trial of Judge Brian Curtin on charges of possessing child pornography.
There have been a number of successful prosecutions on this charge following Operation Amethyst, the majority of them resulting in guilty pleas.
Among the speakers at the conference, on Saturday, May 22nd, will be Dr Pat Walsh of the Granada Institution, who will speak on the characteristics of those who download child pornography.
Det Supt Eugene Gallagher and Det Sgt John Finan of the Computer Crime Investigation Unit of the Garda Síochána will speak on digital evidence and computer forensics.
Mr Tom O'Malley of NUI Galway will speak to the conference on sentencing for child pornography offences; Mr Domhnal Murray of the DPP's office on a prosecutor's perspective; and Ms Esther George, from the Crown Prosecution Service in the UK, on the presentation of cases in court.
The annual prosecutors' conference was initiated by Mr James Hamilton when he became DPP in 1999.
It is attended by solicitors and barristers involved in the prosecution process, members of the Garda Síochána and of the judiciary.