Publication
23997 (31 July 2023)
From Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme
Published on
Last updated on
From Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme
Published on
Last updated on
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: 23997
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 her claim which was received by the Tribunal on 27 August 2004.
2. The Applicant attended a [ ] in a nightclub in [ ] on [ ]. The Applicant met a male acquaintance and decided to spend the night with him. During the night consensual sex took place without a condom after the male assured the Applicant he did not need a condom as he was ‘clean’. The Applicant continued to see the male casually and to have sex with him about once a week until [ ] when she broke up with him. The Applicant was subsequently contacted by a female friend who had also had sex with the male and who informed the Applicant she was now HIV positive. The Applicant contacted the male who denied that he was HIV positive. The Applicant went for a test and subsequently tested positive for HIV.
3. The incident was reported to Gardaí on [ ]. No criminal proceedings were taken and the Applicant has not received any compensation.
4. 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….’
5. 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. Taking the Applicant’s case at its height and assuming that the Applicant contracted HIV from the sexual relationship as she alleges the Applicant finished her sexual relationship some time in [ ]. Therefore her application ought to have been lodged with the Tribunal no later than [ ]. The Application was received by the Tribunal in [ ], at least one month after the deadline.
6. 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. In the instant case no explanation or circumstances have been put forward by the Applicant that would justify exceptional treatment and which would permit the Tribunal to exercise its discretion in favour of admitting the application under the Scheme. The Tribunal therefore refuses to admit the application under Paragraph 21 of the Scheme.
7. By way of comment, nothing in this decision should be taken as an acceptance by the Tribunal that the Applicant contracted HIV from the male she refers to. The Tribunal has been furnished with no evidence whatsoever in respect of the Applicant’s health status nor any evidence that could allow the Tribunal to draw a causative link between the Applicant’s sexual relationship with this male and her subsequently testing positive for HIV.
8. N/A.
9. N/A.
10. N/A.
11. Nil.
Marc Murphy
Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal
31 July 2023