The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) is pleased to announce the publication of two complimentary reports on the rights of victims and defendants in the Irish criminal justice system; Taking Liberties and A Better Deal: the Human Rights of Victims in the Criminal Justice System.
Taking Liberties outlines the human rights implications of last year’s report by the Balance in the Criminal Law Review Group (the Hogan Group). This report proposed a series of measures that would diminish the rights of accused people, without improving life for victims of crime. Already, several changes eroding the right to silence have been introduced on the basis of that Group’s proposals. Taking Liberties highlights the potential impact upon our human rights of the measures concerned, and cautions against their adoption.
In A Better Deal, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) offers constructive alternatives, designed directly to improve respect for the human rights of victims in the criminal justice system. The ICCL’s Charter of Rights for Victims of Crime, which forms part of this report, identifies areas in which the human rights of crime victims should be better protected, in line with international human rights standards.
Commenting on this week’s launch of the reports, ICCL Director Mark Kelly stated today: “The ICCL is publishing these two reports as companion volumes, in order clearly to expose the misconception that limiting the human rights of defendants can somehow bolster the human rights of victims. In a fair criminal justice system, the rights of both defendants and victims should be primary considerations”