27 March 2025

This year, the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions is commemorating 50 years since the appointment of the first DPP in 1975.

At an event in Iveagh House on Thursday 27 March 2025 to mark this occasion – and to launch a specially commissioned book ‘A History of the Office of the DPP: 1975-2025’ – the Director, Catherine Pierse delivered a speech reflecting on fifty years of the prosecution service.  In her speech, the Director remarked on the reasons behind the Government decision to establish an independent Office of the DPP, some 50 years ago, saying:

The purpose of the new Office was to strengthen public confidence in the rule of law by ensuring there could be no political interference or perception of interference in these decisions… the key principle underpinning our work is still the one established in Article 30.3 of the Constitution – that prosecutions are brought on behalf of the people of Ireland, and not on behalf of any individual, organisation or government. 

The value of “independence” therefore is at the core of the origin story of the Irish prosecution service, and it is deeply embedded in our culture.  As prosecutors we know that we must make our decisions based on the evidence and the public interest and free from external influence or bias.

Speaking about the impact of the Office of the DPP decisions, the Director noted:

I know that the prosecutors who work in my Office are deeply aware of the impact that our decisions have on the lives of people who are involved in each case – whether as a victim, an accused or a witness.  Where a decision is made not to prosecute, victims can feel disbelieved and unheard. Where a decision is made to prosecute, an accused person’s life can be turned upside down, with implications for their job, family and future.  The wider community’s confidence in the rule of law is also at stake.

Commenting on how the legal landscape has evolved over the past fifty years, the Director said:

…legislation and case-law continue to evolve to meet the changing social context.  New regulatory bodies with criminal investigation powers have emerged.  New investigative and forensic science techniques have been developed.  Increased supports for vulnerable victims since 2017 also mean that we can also now prosecute complaints from very vulnerable victims, where ten years ago there would have been no reasonable prospect of a conviction.

Over this period, many social tenets have also been challenged, and we now live in a society where no one doubts that it is possible for a person in authority to abuse a child; or for a respected member of society to be a violent and dangerous bully at home; or that a successful business person could be involved in laundering money.

On the topic of how technology has changed all our lives, the Director observed:

…the proliferation of digital data in recent years has utterly transformed the volume and nature of material that we must all engage with.  In response, we need to work collectively towards managing this digital reality and put in place secure and efficient ways of engaging with that data at different stages of the process.

To continue to deliver a fair, independent and effective prosecution service in a digital era, the Director commented that:

The boat won’t move forward if we are each rowing in our own direction.  This evening, I want to acknowledge the extent of the collaboration that is already happening.  The support we get from NGOs in training our people and developing our public information booklets.  The leadership of the judiciary in driving on the new Juvenile Protocol for the Central Criminal Court, the work of court users groups, and the Judicial Planning stakeholder engagement Group; the engagement with our colleagues in An Garda Síochána in relation to the management and presentation of data; the role of the Department of Justice in hosting the criminal justice strategic committee and of the Department of the Taoiseach in supporting the summary prosecution reform steering committee”.

You can read the full text of the Director of Public Prosecutions speech here.

At this event on the 27 March 2025, the DPP launched a specially commissioned book ‘A History of the Office of the DPP: 1975-2025’ by Dr Niamh Howlin.  You can read this book here.