Foilsiú
51182 (6 September 2022)
Ó Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme
Foilsithe
An t-eolas is déanaí
Teanga: Níl leagan Gaeilge den mhír seo ar fáil.
Ó Criminal Injuries Compensation Scheme
Foilsithe
An t-eolas is déanaí
Teanga: Níl leagan Gaeilge den mhír seo ar fáil.
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: 51182
Date of incident: [ ]
Date of application: [ ]
Decision/outcome: No award as no expenses substantiated and/or no reasonable assistance under para 10 of the Scheme.
1. Mr [ ] (‘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, received by the Tribunal Secretariat on [ ], the applicant stated that he had suffered injuries when he was assaulted at the [ ] public house in [ ] on [ ].
3. Paragraph 20 (formerly para 21) of the Scheme states (with emphasis added):
“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”.
4. The incident in this case occurred on [ ]; the three-month time period within which to make an application elapsed on [ ]. The application was made around a month after that, on [ ].
5. In order to assess whether a late application is admissible therefore, the Tribunal must determine whether there are circumstances, which on its consideration, justify exceptional treatment. The applicant stated on his application form that he had never made a claim previously and it was only after his headaches intensified some time after the assault that he decided to make an application.
6. It is plausible that a person would not make an application while their symptoms were thought to be minor, but seek redress when it transpired that their symptoms were worse than first appreciated. Given the short amount of time after the time limit had expired, the Tribunal is satisfied that circumstances which justify the exceptional treatment of the late consideration of the application pertain.
7. However it is also a prerequisite of the Scheme that the matter is reported to the Gardai without delay (paragraph 22, formerly paragraph 23 of the Scheme). Further, the Tribunal makes no awards of compensation where an applicant has not given the Tribunal ‘reasonable assistance’ in relation to medical reports or otherwise which it might require.
8. On [ ] the Gardai notified the Tribunal Secretariat that it had no record of the incident complained of in this application. This letter was forwarded to the applicant’s solicitor on [ ]. The Tribunal Secretariat sought further detail of who the matter had been reported to in [ ] Garda station, and brought the applicant’s attention to paragraph 23 of the Scheme. This letter was replied to by the applicant’s solicitor on [ ], who stated that the matter had been reported by the applicant’s brother and gave a description of the garda to whom it had been reported. No further correspondence on this point is on file, but it appears likely that some form of report was made on the applicant’s behalf within a reasonable timeframe.
9. However the application itself is sparse. No expenses or loss of earnings are claimed. On [ ] the Tribunal Secretariat wrote to the applicant’s solicitor asking whether the applicant wished to pursue the application, and if so to supply documents vouching any out of pocket expenses. No reply to this letter is on file.
10. The Scheme is limited to awarding out-of-pocket expenses – it does not award general damages (para 6(e) of the Scheme). No claim for any such out-of-pocket expenses is discernible on the file. This is either as a result of a failure to give reasonable assistance or because no such expenses were sustained. On either basis, no award of damages can be made in respect of this application.
Tricia Sheehy Skeffington
Member, Criminal Injuries Compensation Tribunal
6 September 2022