Galway-based Green Party Senator Pauline O’Reilly has welcomed the publication of The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking ) Bill 2023, in particular the changes in relation to the use of character references in sexual assault cases.
Senator O’Reilly, who worked on the Bill with her Government colleagues, said she is delighted that the Bill has received Cabinet approval.
"It shows, really, that when you have more women in politics, as we do in the Seanad, you actually get more done by working on a cross-party basis. I was honoured to work with Senators Regina Doherty and Lisa Chambers on this legislation," she said.
"For too long character references have been read out in court without being challenged which can have a negative impact on victims of sexual assault.
"If you want to supply a character reference for a defendan, then you have to be prepared to be cross examined on it," she added.
The Government has approved the publication of a bill central to its zero-tolerance plan to tackle domestic, sexual and gender-based violence.
The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking ) Bill 2023 will strengthen the law around sexual offences and improve protections for victims of sexual offences and human trafficking.
The legislation, which will be debated in the Oireachtas following the summer recess, will see protections strengthened for victims in sexual offence trials where a character reference is provided at a sentencing hearing.
Currently, if a witness is called to court to provide character evidence, this evidence is given under oath. However, written testimonials are not sworn.
The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Human Trafficking ) Bill provides that when a person has been convicted of a sexual offence, character references presented at sentencing must be made via oath or affidavit.
This, according to Minister for Justice Helen McEntee, will ensure that the person providing the reference swears to the veracity of their statement and can be called before the court for cross-examination.
In effect, it will mean character reference letters will no longer be able to be read out in court unchallenged, if warranted.
The purpose of including this provision in the bill is to protect the victims of sexual crimes from further traumatisation during the sentencing hearing, according to the minister.
