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: 50888
Date of incident: [ ]
Date of application: [ ]
Decision outcome: The application is disqualified under paragraph 23 of the Scheme.
1. [ ] (‘the applicant’) has made a claim for compensation under the Scheme of Compensation for Personal Injuries Criminally Inflicted (‘the Scheme’).
2. In his application for compensation under the Scheme, signed on [ ] and received by the Tribunal on [ ], the applicant stated that he had suffered facial injuries on [ ] [ ] in [ ] as a consequence of a mugging.
3. Two preliminary issues arise in respect of this case. The first is whether it outside time for bringing an application. The second is whether the claim is disqualified for failure to report the incident to the Gardai.
4. Para 21 of the Scheme in place at the time relevant to this incident 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”.
5. In this case the incident occurred on [ ] and therefore in normal course it should have been submitted on or before [ ]. Instead, while the application form was signed on [ ] it was not received by the Tribunal until [ ].
6. In order to assess whether this late application is admissible, the Tribunal must de-termine whether there are circumstances, which on its consideration, justify excep-tional treatment.
7. In this case the applicant stated that the application was late because he did not learn of the Tribunal until hearing about it being mentioned on a TV programme.
8. It is a well known proposition that ignorance is no defence in the law. The Tribunal notes that normally a victim of crime is informed of the Scheme by the Garda to whom the incident was reported. This directly leads to consideration of the next point.
9. Paragraph 23 of the Scheme states that ‘to qualify’ for compensation an applicant must indicate to the Tribunal that the incident is subject of criminal proceedings or was reported to the Gardaí without delay. This qualifying criteria may be dispensed with where it is clear that the applicant has made all reasonable efforts to notify the Gardaí and to cooperate with them.
10. In this case, the applicant stated on his application form that he reported the incident to the Gardai in [ ] Garda Station on [ ], but indicated that he did not know the name of the Garda to whom the incident was reported. The Tribunal notes that this reporting was nearly two years after the incident on a date which appears to be after the application form was signed. It is most likely that this is a typo, and it should read that the incident was reported on the date of the incident, being [ ].
11. By letter of [ ] the Tribunal Secretariat wrote to the applicant noting that the Gardaí had no record of the incident. It asked the applicant to furnish further details or contact the Gardaí in respect of the matter.
12. A further letter was sent to the applicant on [ ] setting out Paragraph 23 of the Scheme, and requesting that the applicant furnish further details as to whom the incident was reported. No response was received to this letter.
13. On [ ] the Tribunal Secretariat wrote to the applicant enclosing previous correspondence and asking the applicant to state, on or before [ ], whether he wished to pursue his application. No response has been received to that letter to date.
14. The position is the Tribunal Secretariat asked the applicant to furnish further detail on information which goes to whether he qualifies for compensation under the Scheme or not. The applicant did not give this further information. The Tribunal is therefore left with the uncontested information from the Gardaí that the incident was not reported to them. This disqualified the application from compensation under the Scheme.
Tricia Sheehy Skeffington
Member, Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal
13 May 2022