16.1 The following persons are permitted to write to the Director's Office:
16.2 The following persons can also write to the Director's Office on behalf of their clients:
16.3 It is against the law for anybody else to contact the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions for the purpose of influencing a decision to withdraw or not to start a prosecution or for the purpose of influencing the making of a decision in relation to an application under section 2 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1993 to review a sentence.
16.4 The prosecutor is precluded, by virtue of section 6 of the Prosecution of Offences Act, 1974, or section 2(4) of the Criminal Justice Act, 1993 from considering such unlawful communications when considering a decision to prosecute or to seek a review of sentence on the grounds of undue leniency. The relevant sections are set out below:
6(1)(a) Subject to the provisions of this section it shall not be lawful to communicate with the Attorney General or an officer of the Attorney General, the Director or an officer of the Director, the Acting Director, a member of the Garda Síochána or a solicitor who acts on behalf of the Attorney General in his official capacity or the Director in his official capacity, for the purpose of influencing the making of a decision to withdraw or not to initiate criminal proceedings or any particular charge in criminal proceedings.
(b) If a person referred to in paragraph (a) of this subsection becomes of opinion that a communication is in breach of that paragraph, it shall be the duty of the person not to entertain the communication further.
6(2)(a) This section does not apply to -
(i) communications made by a person who is a defendant or a complainant in criminal proceedings or believes that he is likely to be a defendant in criminal proceedings, or
(ii) communications made by a person involved in the matter either personally or as legal or medical adviser to a person involved in the matter or as a social worker or a member of the family of a person involved in the matter.
(b) In this subsection "member of the family" means wife, husband, father, mother, grandfather, grandmother, stepfather, stepmother, son, daughter, grandson, granddaughter, stepson, stepdaughter, brother, sister, half-brother, half-sister, a person who is the subject of, or in whose favour there is made, an adoption order under the Adoption Acts, 1952 and 1964.
2(4) Section 6 of the Prosecution of Offences Act, 1974 (which prohibits certain communications in relation to criminal proceedings), shall apply, with any necessary modifications, to communications made to the persons mentioned in that section for the purpose of influencing the making of a decision in relation to an application under this section as it applies to such communications made for the purpose of making a decision to withdraw or not to initiate criminal proceedings or any particular charge in criminal proceedings.