Sexual Offences

A specialised sexual offences unit will be established within the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions next year, Ireland's top prosecutor has announced. Claire Loftus, writing in the foreword to her office's annual report for 2018, said the Government had provided funding for the establish

A man who was found guilty of raping his wife has had his custodial sentence increased from three years to five-and-a-half years' imprisonment in the Court of Appeal. Finding that the sentencing judge had not adequately assessed the gravity of the offending conduct, Ms Justice Isobel Kennedy said th

The provision of state-funded counselling and emotional support for rape victims in England and Wales has increased their participation in the criminal justice system, according to a new report published by the Irish Department of Justice. Dr Deirdre Healy, director of the UCD Institute of Criminolo

Sexual offence laws in Ireland have not "kept pace with developments in online technology and the almost universal use of internet-enabled devices", a legal expert on rape and sexual assault has said. Caroline Counihan BL, legal director at Rape Crisis Network Ireland (RCNI), gave evidence to the Oi

More than 3,200 sexual offences were reported to gardaí in the year to June, representing a 9.2 per cent increase on the previous year. Commenting on the figures, included in the latest CSO crime statistics, Justice Minister Charlie Flanagan said he welcomed the fact that "more victims a

The Crown Prosecution Service is "in denial" about declining rape prosecutions and convictions, the victims' watchdog has told The Times. Recent figures from the CPS show that while recorded rapes have increased over the past six years to 58,657 in 2018, charges, prosecutions and convictions for the

A man who was convicted of raping a 91-year-old woman in 2001 has had his application to appeal his conviction for failure to comply with notification requirements under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 refused. Finding that the enhanced notification requirements did not breach Article 7

The Bar Council has partnered with a Silicon Valley company to create an app for barristers to report bullying and sexual harassment. Talk to Spot will be rolled out this autumn and follows reports this year of widespread inappropriate behaviour at the bar.

A former police officer who was convicted of a number of sexual offences involving children has been sentenced to one year of imprisonment and two years on licence, after the Court of Appeal in Belfast found his suspended sentence to be unduly lenient. The 85-year-old man committed his most recent o

Sexual offences cases in Northern Ireland took an average of nearly two years to be dealt with last year, according to new figures. The Department of Justice said the median processing time for cases where the main offence was in the sexual offences category was 667 days in 2018/19.

Convictions for sexual offences are the most likely to be appealed but among the least likely to be successfully overturned, according to new analysis by The Irish Times. The newspaper has published its own analysis of around 300 criminal cases considered by the Court of Appeal since February 2017.

A woman who was sexually harassed at work for over six months after she returned from maternity leave has been awarded €40,000 in the Workplace Relations Commission. The woman stated that she was sexually harassed on a regular basis in front of managers of the retail store she worked in, and th

Lawyers for a man acquitted of rape last year have told a court that his legal entitlement to anonymity is being breached by Google search results of his name. Mícheál O'Higgins SC told Mr Justice Michael White that when his client's name is placed into the Google search engine the res

Independent News & Media (INM) has been ordered to pay a fine of €111,000 for contempt of court in relation to an Irish Independent article which led to the collapse of a rape trial. The Director of Public Prosecutions launched proceedings for contempt against the publisher and two journali

Suspected sex offenders should remain anonymous until charged so long as they have a reputation to protect, Justice Secretary Robert Buckland QC has said. The new Lord Chancellor, who backed a campaign by Sir Cliff Richard and Paul Gambaccini to impose a ban on revealing the names of people arrested