Access to Justice for People with Disabilities As Victims of Crime in Ireland

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Access to Justice for People with Disabilities As Victims of Crime in Ireland Access to Justice for People with Disabilities as Victims of Crime in Ireland Claire Edwards, Gillian Harold, and Shane Kilcommins School of Applied Social Studies and Centre for Criminal Justice and Human Rights, Faculty of Law University College Cork February 2012 Access to Justice for People with Disabilities ii Table of Contents ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................................. V LIST OF ABBREVIATIONS AND ACRONYMS ..................................................................................... VI LIST OF BOXES/FIGURES/TABLES ................................................................................................. VIII ABOUT THE AUTHORS .................................................................................................................... IX SUMMARY ...................................................................................................................................... 1 1. INTRODUCTION: SETTING THE CONTEXT .................................................................................... 12 1.1 BACKGROUND: PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES AS VICTIMS OF CRIME ................................................................. 12 1.2 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE RESEARCH ................................................................................................ 14 1.3 DEFINING TERMS AND PARAMETERS ....................................................................................................... 15 1.3.1 The criminal justice system ..................................................................................................... 15 1.3.2 Crime or abuse? ...................................................................................................................... 16 1.3.3 The victim in the context of disability ..................................................................................... 17 1.3.4 Terminology regarding disability and mental health .............................................................. 18 1.4 METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................................. 18 1.5 KEY ISSUES EMERGING FROM THE LITERATURE ......................................................................................... 20 1.6 STRUCTURE OF THE REPORT ................................................................................................................. 22 2. DEVELOPMENTS IN VICTIMS’ RIGHTS IN IRELAND: IMPLICATIONS FOR PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES ..................................................................................................................................................... 24 2.1 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................... 24 2.2 THE EMERGENCE OF THE ‘VICTIM’ AND VICTIMISATION STUDIES .................................................................. 24 2.3 LEGAL DEVELOPMENTS AFFECTING PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES AS VICTIMS OF CRIME ....................................... 25 2.3.1 Developments in legislation regarding evidence-giving. ........................................................ 26 2.3.2 Affording ‘special protection’ to people with disabilities in criminal law ............................... 42 2.3.3 Putting supports in place: anti-discrimination legislation and affirmative action measures . 44 2.4 POLICY DEVELOPMENTS ....................................................................................................................... 45 2.4.1 The Victims Charter ................................................................................................................. 45 2.4.2 Commitments from the Gardaí ............................................................................................... 46 2.4.3 The Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions and Courts Service ..................................... 46 2.4.4 Victim support organisations .................................................................................................. 47 2.4.5. Administrative shifts: the Justice for Victims Initiative .......................................................... 48 2.5. EU DEVELOPMENTS ............................................................................................................................ 48 2.6 CONTINUING PROBLEMS IN RECOGNISING THE NEEDS OF VICTIMS OF CRIME .................................................. 50 2.7 CONCLUSIONS .................................................................................................................................... 52 3. FIRST ENCOUNTERS WITH THE CRIMINAL JUSTICE SYSTEM: REPORTING, RECORDING AND INVESTIGATING CRIMES. ............................................................................................................... 54 3.1 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................... 54 3.2 UNDER-REPORTING OF CRIMES AND ABUSE BY PEOPLE WITH DISABILITIES ..................................................... 55 3.3 THE EXPERIENCE OF REPORTING A CRIME ................................................................................................ 57 Access to Justice for People with Disabilities iii 3.3.1 The influence of police perceptions and attitudes .................................................................. 59 3.3.2 Variability in police policies, practices and procedures ........................................................... 62 3.3.3 Supporting people with disabilities in their encounters with police ....................................... 63 3.3.4 Availability of/referral to support services .............................................................................. 68 3.4 CONCLUSION: BARRIERS AND FACILITATORS IN REPORTING A CRIME ............................................................. 69 3.4.1 Barriers to reporting and recording of crime .......................................................................... 69 3.4.2 Facilitators to the reporting and recording of crime ............................................................... 70 4. ACCESSING JUSTICE THROUGH THE COURTS............................................................................... 71 4.1 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................... 71 4.2 NEGOTIATING THE AGENCIES OF THE COURT SYSTEM: TWO PREVAILING ISSUES .............................................. 73 4.2.1 Encountering barristers and the judiciary. .............................................................................. 73 4.2.2 Partnership working and communication between agencies of the criminal justice system . 74 4.3. GIVING EVIDENCE IN COURT ................................................................................................................. 76 4.3.1 Setting the context: the principle of orality............................................................................. 76 4.3.2 Questions of competence and capacity .................................................................................. 77 4.3.3. Witness questioning and the process of cross-examination .................................................. 80 4.4 COURT PROCEDURES AND PROCESSES ..................................................................................................... 83 4.4.1 Accessibility to court buildings and spaces ............................................................................. 83 4.4.2 Countering the hostility of the court environment .................................................................. 84 4.5 CONCLUSION: BARRIERS AND FACILITATORS IN THE COURT PROCESS ............................................................ 86 4.5.1 Barriers in the court process ................................................................................................... 86 4.5.2 Facilitators to giving evidence in court and the court process. ............................................... 87 5. POST-TRIAL EXPERIENCES .......................................................................................................... 89 5.1 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................... 89 5.2 VICTIM IMPACT STATEMENTS ............................................................................................................... 89 5.3 APPLYING FOR COMPENSATION ............................................................................................................. 91 5.4 THE VICTIM IN RELATION TO THE TRIAL OUTCOME: SENTENCING, LEAVING COURT AND LIFE AFTER THE TRIAL ...... 93 5.5 CONCLUSION: BARRIERS AND FACILITATORS IN THE POST-TRIAL PERIOD ....................................................... 95 5.5.1 Barriers .................................................................................................................................... 95 5.5.2 Facilitators............................................................................................................................... 95 6. EXPLORING THE IRISH CONTEXT: FINDINGS FROM QUALITATIVE INTERVIEWS ............................ 98 6.1 INTRODUCTION................................................................................................................................... 98 6.2. DISABILITY
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