O’Callaghan ‘looks at counselling-notes change’
Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) has urged the Minister for Justice to introduce a presumption against the disclosure of counselling notes in sexual-offence trials.
The call came ahead of reports that the Government was considering amendments to a bill currently before the Oireachtas.
According to The Irish Times, the amendments would mean that a rape victim’s counselling notes would have a new ‘statutory privilege’, meaning they would not be shared in the majority of trials.
Legal advice
DRCC had called for Minister Jim O’Callaghan to revisit the Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2025, under which a disclosure hearing would take place in such cases.
The minister had signalled further changes in this area “to ensure the optimal balance between the rights of complainants and defendants is achieved”.
DRCC chief executive Rachel Morrogh said that it had received legal advice in October 2024 that any law drafted to prohibit the disclosure of notes outright would fall foul of the protections guaranteed by article 38.1 of the Constitution.
“This was bitterly disappointing to us after years of advocacy, but further legal advice outlined the potential for the creation of a new statutory privilege that would legislate for a presumption against the disclosure of these private and confidential records,” she said.
Supreme Court ruling
“Our advice is that the creation of a legal presumption against disclosure of personal records is possible,” Morrogh stated.
Referring to comments made by the minister in a debate on the bill last week, she said that the Attorney General “evidently agrees” that this is achievable within the constitutional framework.
Morrogh said that legislation must start from the position, as emphasised by the Supreme Court in AM v DPP, that the “compelled disclosure of such intensely private material directly and significantly intrudes upon the dignity of victims as well as their personal integrity, privacy, and associated rights”.
“We contend that introducing a statutory presumption against disclosure of counselling notes is the most protective and constitutionally viable way to bring about a real shift in the status quo and to extend a level of reassurance to victims and survivors that they can avail of vital counselling services without foregoing their right to seek justice,” the DRCC chief executive concluded.