Victims of crime would be given statutory rights in court, including the right to be told about the early release of an offender, under a Fine Gael Bill proposed yesterday.
Under the Victims' Rights Bill, victims could object to bail and early release applications and be entitled to full information about an investigation's progress.
"(It) will give comprehensive statutory rights. For the first time, they will be given the rights that they deserve," the party's justice spokesman, Mr Alan Shatter, said.
Judges would be required to study a detailed Victim Impact Statement and take it into account before deciding on a punishment for a guilty party.
A victim's home address could be held back from a court hearing if a judge was satisfied there was genuine concern that its publication could endanger the person.
Victims would be able to demand "for the first time ever in the Irish courts" that a court identify a convicted sex offender, Mr Shatter told a press conference.
The Parole Board would be required to offer "reasonable notice" to victims that they intended to review an offender's sentence, so that victims could make their own submissions.
Victims would be kept informed about an investigation's progress and any subsequent prosecution or outcome of any hearing, said the Fine Gael TD.
The Garda, health boards, hospitals, the Departments of Health and Justice, the Court Service and the Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal would be required to make all services available to victims. The Ombudsman would be obliged to investigate any alleged failure by the Garda Síochána to properly investigate crimes, and would have to inform victims formally of their rights.
If the victim was left in a coma or intellectually disabled, the courts would be required to designate the rights offered under the Bill to a member of his or her family. The Victim Impact Statement should detail the physical injury or emotional harm suffered, the loss or damage endured and "any other effects whether long-term, or otherwise".
Before passing sentence, the courts would be obliged to hear from a victim in sex offence cases or in any case where the victim suffered violence or the threat of attack. The Department of Justice would be required to notify victims if their attackers escaped or were about to be released on parole or any early release programme.
However, the Minister for Justice, Mr O'Donoghue, dismissed the proposed legislation, saying that little within it was new.
The 1999 Charter for Victims of Crime already offered victims the right to be kept fully updated about an investigation, and used Victim Impact Statements, he claimed. "Fine Gael has missed the point that, first and foremost, policy must be directed at lessening the numbers of victims of crime," said Mr O'Donoghue.
Victim Support, which was founded in 1985 by the former General Secretary of the Association of Garda Sergeants and Inspectors, Mr Derek Nally, welcomed the Fine Gael Bill.
