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20/11/2018
Public May Be Banned From Future NI Rape Trials
A new report has recommended that the public should be banned from trials regarding serious sexual offences as part of a radical overhaul in Northern Ireland.
Retired senior judge Sir John Gillen's independent review was launched in May 2018, following the high-profile trial and acquittal of two Irish and Ulster Rugby players of rape charges in Belfast earlier this year.
It also proposed new legislation to curb the "inappropriate" use of social media during trials, but ruled out reform to grant anonymity to defendants.
The draft recommendations are among 220 proposals in the review ordered by the Criminal Justice Board into how cases of this nature are dealt with here.
New measures to reduce "the humiliating and distressing" nature of cross-examination of the accuser were also proposed.
The report will now be put to public consultation, with 15 January 2019 being the closing date for submissions.
Although it acknowledges that the right of the public to attend trials is a key principle of open justice, Sir Gillen favoured reducing gallery access to only close family members of the complainant and the defendant, and members of the media.
(JG/CM)
Retired senior judge Sir John Gillen's independent review was launched in May 2018, following the high-profile trial and acquittal of two Irish and Ulster Rugby players of rape charges in Belfast earlier this year.
It also proposed new legislation to curb the "inappropriate" use of social media during trials, but ruled out reform to grant anonymity to defendants.
The draft recommendations are among 220 proposals in the review ordered by the Criminal Justice Board into how cases of this nature are dealt with here.
New measures to reduce "the humiliating and distressing" nature of cross-examination of the accuser were also proposed.
The report will now be put to public consultation, with 15 January 2019 being the closing date for submissions.
Although it acknowledges that the right of the public to attend trials is a key principle of open justice, Sir Gillen favoured reducing gallery access to only close family members of the complainant and the defendant, and members of the media.
(JG/CM)
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