Check Against Delivery
I am pleased to be here to launch the Victims Rights Alliance today. I particularly endorse the cooperative nature of your venture, made up as it is of a number of distinct organisations coming together for a common purpose of lobbying in relation to the forthcoming Victims Bill. Victim support is provided in Ireland largely by the voluntary sector. The sector is typified by small organisations dealing with victims in their specialist area or in their geographical location. Small organisations can react quickly and flexibly to local developments and exigencies. They can, therefore, be more responsive to their clients. However, given the number of small organisations serving the needs of victims of general crime, homicide, tourist victims, and victims of domestic and sexual violence, it is incumbent on these organisations to cooperate together. That is why at the outset I am endorsing the cooperative stance which is the basis of the Victims Rights Alliance. Some of you may have heard me make similar statements in recent months. However, I offer no apology because I believe the point is of such importance that it bears repeating.
You are a diverse group comprising nine organisations at present:
Advocates for Victims of Homicide (AdVIC)
Dublin Rape Crisis Centre
Irish Council for Civil Liberties
Irish Road Victims Association
Irish Tourist Assistance Service
One in Four
Rape Crisis Network Ireland
Safe Ireland, and
Support After Homicide.
As your name suggests you are an alliance between existing organisations, rather than a new amalgamated organisation. I understand that you hope to grow organically as other organisations join you.
I am told that you are being established to lobby in relation to the forthcoming Victims Bill. For years I too have been lobbying on this topic, first through an opposition Victims Bill in 2002 and another Victims Bill in 2008. When I was negotiating the Programme for Government I took the opportunity to place a Victims Bill at the head of the list of topics in the Justice area. This commits the government to enacting legislation to ensure that victims and their needs are at the heart of the justice process and that rights to information, advice and other appropriate assistance are met effectively and efficiently. This commitment predates the publication of the EU victims directive. In my early months as Minister I ensured that we opted into the victims directive. I actively engaged in discussions at EU ministerial level on the topic.
It is interesting how the wheel of life turns. It would appear that now I am Minister an organisation is being established to lobby me and the government in relation to the forthcoming Victims Bill. I was intrigued to be invited and I accepted your invitation to speak at the launch here today. I can ensure you that I do not need to be lobbied on an issue to which I am committed and on which I intend to deliver.
Work on the Victims Bill is ongoing in my Department with a view to securing government agreement to a draft scheme of a Bill. It is my intention to send this draft scheme to the Justice Committee for initial scrutiny prior to detailed legal drafting. Out of respect for the Oireachtas, that will be the first public opportunity to speak in relation to the contents of the Victims Bill. Of course the Bill will have to ensure that we fully comply with the Victims Directive and will also be informed by the Private Members Bill I published in 2008.
The directive envisages a world where victims of crime are recognised and treated in a respectful, sensitive, tailored, professional and non-discriminatory manner, in all contacts with victim support or restorative justice services or criminal justice agencies, operating within the context of criminal proceedings. That last long sentence is a pretty literal paraphrase from article 1 of the directive. I think we can all agree that this is what we want to achieve. Differences may arise on the best means to achieve these aims or on the amount of resources it is possible to devote to these objectives. But we are agreed where we want to be in the future.
A guide to the content of the Victims Directive has been authored by a young Irish barrister, Maria McDonald and published by an EU funded project called Justicia. This project comprises human rights groups from 11 member states including the Irish Council for Civil Liberties. I understand that this guide is being translated into a number of EU languages. This guide will no doubt be a resource for the Victims Rights Alliance.
The legislative process will of course take some time. Whilst enacting the Bill is the initial step in the case of the Victims Bill implementation is of paramount importance. I was acutely aware of this when we were opting in to the victims directive, because of the demands being made of the criminal justice agencies in the original draft. I know that the three main agencies concerned – An Garda Síochána, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and the Courts Service – are aware of the directive and that it must be implemented by 16 November, 2015.
A significant point worth making to you who work in relatively small organisations concerns volume. The three agencies mentioned deal in large volumes of crime. There are very broadly speaking at least 100,000 crimes involving victims every year. Different victims have different needs. A person whose car has been broken into and valuables stolen may want to make a quick report to satisfy insurance company requirements. Presumably they would also like to see items of material and sentimental value promptly found and restored to them. A recent victim of sexual violence probably needs medical attention and may be willing to undergo a forensic examination. A victim of domestic violence may be torn between their need for their own safety, safety for their children, and their love for a partner who abuses their trust. As the investigation of the crime develops towards a court hearing or not, as the case may be, the needs of the victim may also change. To introduce significant change in organisations with hundreds or even thousands of staff, operating in already complex environments, requires time, energy and commitment.
The Victims Bill will require certain actions and standards of the criminal justice agencies. As public bodies and as bodies tasked with upholding the law of the land you can be rest assured that they will be most anxious to comply with their legal requirements under the directive. On a human level too public servants who deal with victims of crime see their suffering and are concerned to assist those victims, within the different roles assigned to them by statute or by the Constitution and insofar as they are competent. It is not accidental that the first Victim Support organisation was established by retired police officers. The police and prosecutors are also aware that victims whose human needs for information, advice and emotional support have been met in an appropriate way, are better informants and witnesses and improve confidence in our criminal justice system generally.
The criminal justice agencies are waiting to see proposals from my Department in relation to the Victims Bill. However, in the meantime they are preparing and cooperating. For instance, last July, the Garda Commissioner, the Director of Public Prosecutions and I jointly launched a new guide to making a Victim Impact Statement in court. The presidents of the courts had seen the leaflet before it was finalised. The guide was written in plain English and carried the National Adult Literacy Agency logo certifying that this was the case. I remarked on that occasion that the cooperation between my Department and the criminal justice agencies which was evident in this modest project would be called upon again in larger measure to ensure implementation of the Victims Bill.
I will conclude, as I commenced, on the theme of cooperation. I have spoken of cooperation between criminal justice agencies and implementation of the Victims Bill after I had outlined the legislative process. I wish the Victims Rights Alliance well in your lobbying in relation to the Victims Bill. I appreciate your interest and support in legislation to which I am committed. I endorse your decision to cooperate together to make your voice more effective and look forward to our continuing engagement.