The first research project to study the laws on rape throughout the EU with the aim of developing a model for potential reforms has begun at Trinity College, Dublin.
The results of the programme are likely to form the basis of discussions to rationalise laws on rape throughout the Union. The project was started at the instigation of the Rape Crisis Centre.
In September 1998, when the TCD programme is expected to conclude, a conference will be held to disseminate the information to each EU member-state.
The project will be a comparative research study on the legal procedures which provide assistance, representation or support for adult and child victims of rape and sexual abuse. In particular, it will look at states which provide for some form of separate legal representation for alleged victims.
Researchers will study in depth the laws in five states: Denmark, Belgium, France, Germany and Ireland. An overview will also be taken of the laws and procedures in each of the 15 member-states.
They will meet academics, victims who have been through the courts system, practitioners, and members of the equivalents of the Rape Crisis Centre and the Department of Justice.
The idea to apply for EU funding came from Ms Olive Braiden, director of the Rape Crisis Centre. She received £80,000 for the project.
Ms Braiden said: "We have always wanted separate legal representation in court for a rape victim and we wanted to do research to see what the law was in different member-states and to see what the best code of practice was."
She said that at the moment in the courts here, the victim was just there as a witness and this was terribly unfair. One simple change to allow a lawyer to represent her or him would make the greatest difference.
"From the comparative study, it will be interesting to see what works best and we can come up with the model for the best practice and what would be the best situation for a victim going to court," she said.
The researchers have just completed the first step in the project. They have returned from Denmark where, Ms Braiden said, the law was quite advanced in relation to victims, who did have their own legal representation. The next place to be visited is Belgium.
The project will be finished in September 1998 and they are obliged under the programme to hold a conference to disseminate the information to each memberstate. The EU is seeking uniformity in the laws.
The programme, called the Grotius Programe, is headed by Mr William Duncan, professor of law and jurisprudence in TCD. The research co-ordinator on the project at the Law School is Ms Ivana Bacik.