The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (the “Commission”) has welcomed the clarity provided by the Supreme Court judgment in the cases of Doe (1), Doe (2), Doe (3) v. DPP, delivered today. The Commission had been joined to the case in its amicus curiae (‘friend of the court’) function.
Doe (1), Doe (2), Doe (3) v. DPP involve three individuals who are charged with criminal offences, alleged to have been committed when they were under 18 years. They were not charged with the offences until after they turned 18.
They argued in the High Court that prohibition of their trials was warranted because they had lost the statutory protections provided for in the Children Act 2001, including anonymity. The High Court refused to prohibit their trials, but ruled that the delay in the prosecution of their cases was unjustified and amounted to a breach of their constitutional right to a trial with due expedition. In order to remedy this breach, the High Court made an order prohibiting identification of the accused individuals. The case was appealed to the Supreme Court.
Before the Supreme Court, the Commission argued that a young person who turns 18 prior to the completion of the criminal process should be entitled to apply for anonymity in respect of offences allegedly committed as a child.
Today, the Supreme Court in dismissing the appeal delivered an unanimous judgment. The judgment found that where a defendant has lost the protection of the Children Act, due to prosecutorial delay, the court should consider granting remedies falling short of prohibition of the trial to address the effects of the breach on the interests of the defendant. The relevant court could consider making an order of anonymity, equivalent to the protections set down in section 93 of the Children Act. This would also permit a court to lift this order, on application by an appropriate person for the reasons set out in section 93, to include if it is in the public interest to do so.
The judgment of the Supreme Court is available at Judgments | The Courts Service of Ireland
Liam Herrick, Chief Commissioner of the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission said:
“We welcome the clarity provided today by the Supreme Court in this key case concerning the remedies available to young persons where there has been a loss of statutory protections due to prosecutorial delay. We were happy to assist the Court in this important case concerning the protections afforded to individuals during the criminal justice process.”
ENDS/
For more information, please contact:
Sarah Clarkin, IHREC Communications Manager,
01 8592641 / 087 4687760
Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission
The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission is an independent public body, appointed by the President and directly accountable to the Oireachtas. The Commission has a statutory remit set out under the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission Act (2014) to protect and promote human rights and equality in Ireland, and build a culture of respect for human rights, equality and intercultural understanding in the State.
The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission is Ireland’s national human rights institution and is recognised as such by the United Nations. The Commission is also Ireland’s national equality body for the purpose of a range of EU anti-discrimination measures.