23669 (6 August 2023)

The Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal

In the matter of an application under the Scheme of Compensation for Personal Injuries Criminally Inflicted

Decision of a Single Member

Name of applicant: [ ]

Application number: 23669

Date of incident: [ ]

Date of application: [ ]

Decision/outcome: Application refused under Paragraph 21 of the Scheme.

1. [ ] (‘the Applicant’) has made a claim for compensation under the Scheme of Compensation for Personal Injuries Criminally Inflicted (‘the Scheme’). The Applicant has submitted a completed application form in respect of his claim which was received by the Tribunal on [ ].

2. At approximately 3am on [ ] the Applicant left a nightclub in [ ] County [ ] and was walking down Main Street. The Applicant states that he was attacked by two males, one of whom struck the Applicant in the face with a broken bottle. The Applicant subsequently lost consciousness. Gardaí were called and the assailant was arrested shortly after the incident. The Applicant was taken to [ ] General Hospital and remained there for five days whilst he was treated for his injuries. The Applicant has a permanent [ ] scar on the side of his face from the incident.

3. The Applicant subsequently made a statement to Gardaí and the assailant was prosecuted and convicted of Section 3 Assault (Assault causing harm) at [ ] Circuit Court and received a [ ] year sentence with the final six months suspended. The Applicant did not receive any compensation in respect of his injuries.

4. The Applicant’s claim is for loss of earnings and the cost of travelling to [ ] from [ ] on three separate occasions.

5. Paragraph 21 of the Scheme states:

‘Applications should be made as soon as possible but, except in circumstances determined by the Tribunal to justify exceptional treatment, not later than three months after the event giving rise to the injury….’

6. As can be seen, the application was required to have been made to the Tribunal by the Applicant promptly and no less than three months from the date of the incident. In this instance, the application ought to have been lodged with the Tribunal no later than by [ ]. The application was received by the Tribunal on [ ], over two and a half years after the date of the incident giving rise to the alleged injuries.

7. There is an onus on an applicant who makes a claim under the Scheme to submit it in accordance with Paragraph 21. A claim that is submitted outside the three-month time limit can only be admitted to the Scheme if the prevailing circumstances permit exceptional treatment of the application.

8. In the instant case the Applicant’s solicitor states, by letter dated [ ], that ‘the applicant understood that he would have to wait for the completion of the Criminal Trial in [ ] before he could seek any advice concerning compensation of redress. The trial was only completed in [ ] as the reason why the application was submitted outside the three-month time limit. Even if the Tribunal were to exercise its discretion in the Applicant’s favour in respect of this submission, the application was not received by the Tribunal until [ ], approximately ten months later. Therefore the Tribunal can only draw the reasonable conclusion that the Applicant did not progress his application with any degree of urgency, particularly given that his solicitor was on notice that the application was outside the Scheme’s three-month time limit since [ ] at the very latest.

9. Accordingly the Tribunal has no cause to exercise its discretion to find exceptional circumstances such as would allow the application to be admitted under the Scheme. The Tribunal therefore refuses to admit the application under Paragraph 21 of the Scheme.

10. N/A.

11. N/A.

12. N/A.

13. Nil.

Marc Murphy

Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal

6 August 2023