54881 (11 September 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: 54881

Date of incident: [ ]

Date of application: [ ]

Decision outcome: Application refused pursuant to Paragraph 10 of the Scheme.

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

2. On the night of [ ] the Applicant was out socialising with a friend in [ ]. The Applicant left the pub he was drinking in and went to another on [ ]. The Applicant met an individual, known to him, and a brief conversation ensued. Suddenly this individual took out a knife and slashed the Applicant across the [ ] causing him serious injury. The assailant had to be stopped from causing the Applicant further serious injury. CCTV exists which confirms the Applicant’s account of events. Gardaí were called and arrived very shortly thereafter. The Applicant was taken by ambulance to hospital where he was admitted and treatment. The Applicant has subsequently undergone plastic surgery in respect of his injuries.

3. The assailant was subsequently arrested, charged and convicted of assault causing serious harm contrary to Section 4 of the Non-Fatal Offences Against the Person Act, 1997 and received a significant prison sentence. For the purposes of the Scheme the Tribunal is satisfied that the Applicant was the victim of a crime of violence and suffered personal injuries therefrom.

4. Paragraph 10 of the Scheme states:

‘No compensation will be payable to an applicant who has not, in the opinion of the Tribunal, given the Tribunal all reasonable assistance, in relation to any medical report that it may require, *and otherwise.’* (Emphasis added)

5. There is an onus on an application who makes a claim under the Scheme to provide all reasonable assistance to the Tribunal in order that it may fairly assess each individual claim. In the instant case the Applicant claims for fees incurred during his hospital stay, an unspecified bill arising from his plastic surgery and loss of earnings. It appears from the paperwork on file that the Applicant’s loss of earnings claim forms the greater part of his claim.

6. When an applicant claims for loss of earnings and/or out of pocket expenses arising from personal injuries criminally inflicted it is for each applicant to make his or her own case in respect of these expenses and to vouch any such claim with receipts, pay slips, Revenue documentation etc. The Applicant herein has not provided any vouching documentation whatsoever to support his claim, he has simply provided figures on his application form with no explanation as to how these figures were arrived at. Upon receipt of the Applicant’s application the Tribunal wrote to the Applicant, by letter dated [ ] vouching documentation in respect of out-of-pocket expenses and setting out the paperwork which is required to be submitted by an Applicant who wishes to claim for loss of earnings.

7. By correspondence dated [ ] and [ ] the Tribunal made no less than four sperate requests for the Applicant to provide vouching documentation in respect of his claim. Notwithstanding these requests, the Applicant confirmed that he wishes for his application to be sent to a Tribunal member for decision by undated handwritten note (received by the Tribunal on [ ]). While it cannot be said that the Applicant has failed to engage with the Tribunal in respect of his claim in a general sense, he has singularly failed to provide the documentation sought, thus depriving the Tribunal of the information it requires to make a fair and reasoned assessment of the Applicant’s claim.

8. Regretfully, the Tribunal therefore has no alternative but to refuse to admit the application under Paragraph 10 of the Scheme.

9. N/A.

10. N/A.

11. N/A.

12. Nil.

Marc Murphy

Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal

11 September 2023