7 Statistics

Explanatory Note in Relation to Statistics

7.1 The statistics outlined in this report have been compiled from data taken from our IT systems which are primarily used as a case tracking system and were not designed for the principal purpose of generating statistics. The systems are subject to ongoing development in order to enhance the quality of the data produced.

7.2 This chapter is broken down into three distinct sections:

• Charts 1 to 6 relate to the receipt of files in the Office and include details on the types of directions made;
• Charts 7 to 11 provide details on the results of cases prosecuted on indictment by the Director in respect of files received in the Office between 2003 and 2005;
• Charts 12 to 14 provide statistics on Office expenditure.

7.3 All the yearly demarcations in the statistical tables refer to the year the file was received in the Office. The reason for going back so far in charts 7 to 11 is to take account of the time difference between a direction being made and a trial verdict being recorded. If statistics were to be provided in respect of 2004 case outcomes, a large proportion of the cases would still be classified as 'for hearing'.

7.4 In this report we have attempted in most instances to include updated versions of the data set out in the Annual Report 2004 in order to give a fuller account of the progress made since that data was previously published. Because of the continuous change in the status of data at any given time, e.g. files 'under consideration' or cases 'for hearing', information given in this report will differ from that for the same year in last year's report. In addition, data from two years may not be strictly comparable because as time goes on more cases are completed so that information from earlier years is necessarily more complete than that from later years. Unless otherwise stated, data included in these statistics was updated as of May 2006.

7.5 Caution should be exercised when considering these statistics in light of statistics published by other organisations such as the Courts Service or the Garda Síochána. The statistics published here are based on our own classification and categorisation systems and may in some cases not be in line with the classification systems of other organisations.

Chart 1 shows the total number of files received by the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions from 1976 to 2005.

The vast majority of files received in the Office relate to the investigation of crime. The remainder deal with general queries, matters for judicial review or requests for legal advice from the Garda Síochána or local state solicitors. The caseload has increased generally on a year on year basis since the establishment of the Office both in terms of number of files received and in the complexity of the issues that have to be addressed.

The significant drop of over 1,000 files from 2000 to 2001 was the result of a change in administrative arrangements authorising the prosecution of certain offences by the Garda Síochána without the necessity for the prior submission of files to this Office for directions. The sharp increase in figures from 2001 to 2002 is due to the transfer of the Criminal Division of the Chief State Solicitor's Office to the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions in December 2001 to form the Solicitors Division of the Office.

Chart 1 TOTAL FILES RECEIVED

Year	Files	Year	Files
1976	2298	1991	4255
1977	2542	1992	4880
1978	2715	1993	5356
1979	2698	1994	6393
1980	2806	1995	6674
1981	3249	1996	6687
1982	3738	1997	6915
1983	4309	1998	7066
1984	4759	1999	7321
1985	4335	2000	7815
1986	4263	2001	6821
1987	3902	2002	14586
1988	3829	2003	14696
1989	3724	2004	14615
1990	3849	2005	14475

The Solicitors Division of the Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions provides a solicitor service to the Director and acts on his behalf. The division also deals with cases which do not require to be referred to the Directing Division for direction.

Chart 2 represents the number of cases dealt with solely by the Solicitors Division and includes District Court prosecution files, appeals from the District Court to the Circuit Court and High Court Bail applications. The figure for District Court Appeals represents the number of files held, not the number of individual charges appealed. One defendant may have a multiplicity of charges under appeal.

The Solicitors Division also deals with judicial review applications. While some of these applications are dealt with solely by the Solicitors Division, others require to be forwarded to the Directing Division for direction. However, because the dedicated Judicial Review Section is based in the Solicitors Division the total number of judicial review applications dealt with are included in this chart. Those applications which required a direction are also included in the figures for the Directing Division (Chart 3) under the category 'other legal files'. Judicial reviews may be taken by the Director or be taken against him.

Chart 2 FILES DEALT WITH BY SOLICITORS

	2005	%	2004	%	2003	%
Division District Court Prosecution Files	2357	37%	1820	25%	2422	34%
Appeals from District Court to Circuit Court	1830	29%	3117	43%	2333	33%
High Court Bail Applications	1727	27%	1958	27%	2002	28%
Judicial Review Applications	273	6%	299	4%	279	4%
TOTAL	6287	100%	7194	100%	7036	100%

Chart 3 compares the number of files received in the Directing Division to the number of suspects who are the subject of these files. Many files relate to more than one suspect and to treat such a file as a single case can give a misleading impression of the workload of the Office. It is important, therefore, to look at the total number of suspects as well as the total number of files.

NOTE: There are also a number of files received in the Directing Division each year not relating to prosecutions. These include requests for legal advice from the Garda Síochána and local state solicitors, and judicial review applications received from the Solicitors Division for direction. These files are outlined in the chart as 'other legal files'.

Chart 3 BREAKDOWN OF FILES RECEIVED IN DIRECTING DIVISION

	2005	2004	2003
Number of prosecution files received in Directing Division	7499	6711	7010
Number of suspects who are the subject of prosecution files	9967	9487	9703
Number of other legal files received not relating to prosecutions	689	710	650

The following chart shows a breakdown of the disposal of files received in the Directing Division in 2003, 2004 and 2005 (as of May 2006). The Garda Síochána and specialised investigating agencies submit files either directly to our Solicitors Division or to the local state solicitor for a direction whether or not to prosecute. Depending on the seriousness of the offence and the evidence disclosed in the file, a decision will be taken as follows:

No Prosecution: A decision not to prosecute is made. The most common reason not to prosecute is because the evidence contained in the file is not sufficient to support a prosecution. The figures however, list all decisions not to prosecute.

Prosecute on Indictment: It is decided to prosecute in the Circuit, Central or Special Criminal Courts.

Summary Disposal: The offence is to be prosecuted in the District Court.

Under Consideration: Files in which a decision has not been made. This figure includes those files in which further information or investigation was required before a decision could be made. Further information is sought more often than not to strengthen the case rather than because of any deficiency in the investigation.

NOTE: The figures for 2003 and 2004 have been updated since the publication of previous Annual Reports. The reduction in the files 'Under Consideration' figures compared with those given in previous years reflect developments on those files since then. 'Prosecutions on Indictment' include those cases in which defendants elected for trial and cases where the judge of the District Court refused jurisdiction, notwithstanding the fact that the Director initially elected for summary disposal.

Chart 4 DISPOSAL OF DIRECTING DIVISION FILES BY NUMBER OF SUSPECTS SUBJECT OF FILES RECEIVED

Direction Made	2005	%	2004	%	2003	%
No Prosecution Directed	3711	37%	3938	42%	3841	40%
Prosecution on Indictment Directed	2891	29%	2770	29%	2925	30%
Summary Disposal Directed	2981	30%	2531	27%	2769	29%
TOTAL OF FILES DISPOSED	9583	96%	9239	97%	9535	98%
Under Consideration	384	4%	248	3%	168	2%
TOTAL	9967	100%	9487	100%	9703	100%

A decision may be made not to prosecute in relation to a particular file for a variety of reasons other than the main reasons set out in this chart (referred to as 'other' below). Delay, the death or disappearance of the suspect, the death or disappearance of the complainant or the refusal of a complainant to give evidence are some examples.

Chart 4a BREAKDOWN OF MAIN REASONS FOR A DIRECTION NOT TO PROSECUTE

Main Reasons for no Prosecution	2005	%	2004	%	2003	%
Insufficient Evidence	2773	75%	2882	73%	2906	76%
Juvenile Diversion Programme	199	5%	224	6%	157	4%
Public Interest	192	5%	175	4%	198	5%
Sympathetic Grounds	72	2%	50	1%	54	1%
Time Limit Expired	192	5%	266	7%	287	7%
Other	283	8%	341	9%	239	6%
TOTAL	3711	100%	3938	100%	3841	100%

Chart 4b is a breakdown of directions to prosecute on indictment, by the county in which the offence was committed. It includes cases directed to be heard in the Circuit Criminal, Central Criminal and Special Criminal Courts. Please note that a number of cases for 2005 are still 'Under Consideration' (see Chart 4). It is not possible to determine how many of these cases may eventually result in a direction to prosecute on indictment.

Chart 4b BREAKDOWN OF NUMBER OF PROSECUTIONS ON INDICTMENT DIRECTED PER COUNTY OF OFFENCE

County	Population*	2005	2004	2003	2002	2001	Cases Per 1,000 Persons					3-year Rolling Averages
							2005	2004	2003	2002	2001	2003-2005	2002-2004	2001-2003
Carlow	46,014	40	22	23	29	17	0.87	0.48	0.50	0.63	0.37	0.62	0.54	0.50
Cavan	56,546	28	29	31	45	26	0.50	0.51	0.55	0.80	0.46	0.52	0.62	0.60
Clare	103,277	69	62	68	51	28	0.67	0.60	0.66	0.49	0.27	0.64	0.58	0.47
Cork	447,829	308	248	303	295	275	0.69	0.55	0.68	0.66	0.61	0.64	0.63	0.65
Donegal	137,575	45	40	66	42	38	0.33	0.29	0.48	0.31	0.28	0.37	0.36	0.35
Dublin	1,122,821	1500	1419	1490	1525	1417	1.34	1.26	1.33	1.36	1.26	1.31	1.32	1.32
Galway	209,077	54	85	49	47	61	0.26	0.41	0.23	0.22	0.29	0.30	0.29	0.25
Kerry	132,527	58	58	69	45	42	0.44	0.44	0.52	0.34	0.32	0.47	0.43	0.39
Kildare	163,944	109	139	97	123	92	0.66	0.85	0.59	0.75	0.56	0.70	0.73	0.63
Kilkenny	80,339	30	56	26	22	41	0.37	0.70	0.32	0.27	0.51	0.46	0.43	0.37
Laois	58,774	25	33	20	30	17	0.43	0.56	0.34	0.51	0.29	0.44	0.47	0.38
Leitrim	25,799	13	4	18	2	4	0.50	0.16	0.70	0.08	0.16	0.45	0.31	0.31
Limerick	175,304	128	85	108	83	89	0.73	0.48	0.62	0.47	0.51	0.61	0.52	0.53
Longford	31,068	9	11	16	16	8	0.29	0.35	0.51	0.51	0.26	0.39	0.46	0.43
Louth	101,821	36	73	79	96	71	0.35	0.72	0.78	0.94	0.70	0.62	0.81	0.81
Mayo	117,446	46	52	27	29	18	0.39	0.44	0.23	0.25	0.15	0.35	0.31	0.21
Meath	134,005	60	49	55	48	54	0.45	0.37	0.41	0.36	0.40	0.41	0.38	0.39
Monaghan	52,593	40	22	30	40	40	0.76	0.42	0.57	0.76	0.76	0.58	0.58	0.70
Offaly	63,663	20	19	30	11	31	0.31	0.30	0.47	0.17	0.49	0.36	0.31	0.38
Roscommon	53,774	15	23	25	13	19	0.28	0.43	0.46	0.24	0.35	0.39	0.38	0.35
Sligo	58,200	45	40	41	19	45	0.77	0.69	0.70	0.33	0.77	0.72	0.57	0.60
Tipperary	140,131	55	46	49	49	43	0.39	0.33	0.35	0.35	0.31	0.36	0.34	0.34
Waterford	101,546	60	64	96	72	52	0.59	0.63	0.95	0.71	0.51	0.72	0.76	0.72
Westmeath	71,858	39	25	42	35	48	0.54	0.35	0.58	0.49	0.67	0.49	0.47	0.58
Wexford	116,596	38	41	49	34	54	0.33	0.35	0.42	0.29	0.46	0.37	0.35	0.39
Wicklow	114,676	21	25	18	22	20	0.18	0.22	0.16	0.19	0.17	0.19	0.19	0.17
Total		2891	2770	2925	2823	2650

* 2002 Census Figures

Chart 5 shows the time between the receipt of a completed prosecution file in the Office and the issuing of a direction as to whether a prosecution of a suspect should be taken or not. It has been decided to show this information by suspect rather than by file since in the case of files containing multiple suspects, decisions in respect of all suspects may not be made at the same time.

Files vary in size and complexity. Also, in some cases, further information or investigation was required before a decision could be made. Further information may be sought to enhance the proofs in a case and does not necessarily imply any deficiency in the investigation.

The time taken to issue directions is calculated on the basis of only those files which have been disposed of. Files still under consideration are therefore shown as a separate category in the table below.

Chart 5 TIME TAKEN TO ISSUE DIRECTIONS

Time Taken	2005	%	2004	%	2003	%
Zero - Two Weeks	4684	47%	4081	43%	3904	40%
Two - Four Weeks	1438	14%	1223	13%	1258	13%
Four Weeks - Three Months	2249	23%	2234	24%	2332	24%
Three Months - Six Months	905	9%	960	10%	1159	12%
Six Months - Twelve Months	283	3%	508	5%	640	7%
More than Twelve Months	24	0%	233	2%	242	2%
TOTAL FILES DISPOSED	9583	96%	9239	97%	9535	98%
Under Consideration	384	4%	248	3%	168	2%
TOTAL	9967	100%	9487	100%	9703	100%

Section 2 of the Criminal Justice Act, 1993 provides that the Director of Public Prosecutions may apply to the Court of Criminal Appeal to have a sentence imposed by the trial court reviewed, if it appears that the sentence imposed was in law unduly lenient.

Chart 6 below details the number of applications made since the introduction of the Act.

In Annual Reports prior to 2004 the results of applications made were set out according to the year in which they were lodged. However not all applications lodged in the year for which the Annual Report was reporting were heard by the date of publication of the Annual Report and the results for such applications were listed as pending. It was therefore decided, from the year 2003 onwards, to set out the results of applications according to the year in which they were heard.

Chart 6a below outlines the results of applications, from the years 1994 to 2002, by the year in which the application was lodged (as appeared in previous Annual Reports).

Chart 6b outlines the results of applications, from the year 2003 onwards, by the year in which the application was heard.

Chart 6 APPLICATIONS FOR REVIEW OF SENTENCE ON GROUNDS OF UNDUE LENIENCY

Year of Application	Number of Applications Lodged
1994	2
1995	2
1996	3
1997	4
1998	12
1999	34
2000	31
2001	23
2002	23
2003	26
2004	21
2005	37

Chart 6a RESULTS OF APPLICATIONS BY YEAR LODGED

Year of Application Lodged	Successful	Refused	Applications Struck Out or Withdrawn	TOTAL
1994	-	1	1	2
1995	-	1	1	2
1996	1	1	1	3
1997	2	2	-	4
1998	6	3	3	12
1999	17	16	1	34
2000	15	13	3	31
2001	17	3	3	23
2002	14	9	-	23

Chart 6b RESULTS OF APPLICATIONS BY YEAR HEARD

Year of Application Heard	Successful	Refused	Applications Struck Out or Withdrawn	TOTAL
2003	11	8	1	20
2004	13	8	1	22
2005	18	9	2	29

Outcomes of Prosecutions Taken on Indictment

Charts 7 to 11 provide information for prosecutions on indictment taken by the Director in respect of files received in the Office between 2002 and 2004. As referred to in the initial explanatory note, care should be taken before a comparison is made to figures provided by any other organisation, as they are likely to be compiled on a different basis.

The figures in these charts relate to individual suspects against whom a direction has been made to prosecute on indictment. Statistics are provided on a suspect-by-suspect basis rather than on the basis of files received. This is because directions are made in respect of each suspect included within a file rather than against the complete file as an entity in itself. Depending on the evidence provided, different directions are often made in respect of the individual suspects received as part of the same file. References in these charts to 'cases' refer to such prosecutions taken against individual suspects. Although individual suspects on a file may be tried together where a direction is made to prosecute them in courts of equal jurisdiction, each suspect's verdict will be collated separately for the purpose of these statistics.

Statistics are provided on the basis of one outcome per suspect; this is irrespective of the number of charges that the suspect may have been prosecuted for in respect of that file. Where a suspect is convicted on any charge, he will be categorised as 'convicted' regardless of whether the conviction is in respect of the main charge or for a lesser charge or charges on the indictment. Where a suspect is categorised as 'acquitted', this means that the suspect has been acquitted of all charges. In respect of cases heard in the Central Criminal Court for rape and murder, a further breakdown is given in respect of convictions for a lesser offence (e.g. manslaughter instead of murder). This information is not available within our computer systems in respect of the other courts so care should be taken in interpreting their statistics. Suspects tried before these courts are categorised on the basis of the most serious offence they are charged with, but the offence or offences they are convicted for may be different from that under which they are categorised in the charts.

It should also be noted that statistics set out in these charts relate to what happened in the trial court only and not in a subsequent appeal court. In other words where a person is convicted and the conviction is subsequently overturned on appeal, the outcome of the trial is still shown in our statistics as a conviction.

Care should be taken in relation to interpreting the rates of conviction and acquittal in respect of later years, as a higher number of cases will not have reached a conclusion. The picture furnished by these statistics will be less complete and therefore less representative than those in respect of earlier years. Cases heard relatively early may not necessarily be a representative sample of the whole.

Chart 7 shows the results of prosecutions on indictment taken in relation to defendants in respect of whom prosecutions were commenced in the years 2002 to 2004 (as of May 2006). The figures relate to:

Conviction: A conviction was obtained in respect of at least one of the charges brought in the case.

Acquittal: The defendant was acquitted on all charges.

Not Yet Heard: These are cases in which a decision to prosecute has been taken and the matter is before the courts.

NOTE: Figures have not been included for 2005 as the majority of these cases have yet to be dealt with by the courts and the outcomes for the few cases where results are available may not be representative of the final picture covering all the cases.

Chart 7 CASE RESULTS - PROSECUTIONS ON INDICTMENT

Outcome	2004	%	2003	%	2002	%
Conviction	1642	59%	1896	65%	2010	71%
Acquittal	110	4%	156	5%	132	5%
Not Yet Heard	883	32%	734	25%	570	20%
Struck Out/Discontinued	135	5%	139	5%	111	4%
TOTAL	2770	100%	2925	100%	2823	100%

Chart 7a BREAKDOWN OF CONVICTIONS AND ACQUITTALS (EXCLUDING CASES STILL TO BE HEARD)

	2004	%	2003	%	2002	%
Conviction by Jury	79	5%	120	6%	180	8%
Conviction Following Plea of Guilty	1563	89%	1776	87%	1830	85%
TOTAL CONVICTIONS	1642	94%	1896	92%	2010	94%
Acquittal by Jury	52	3%	94	5%	78	4%
Acquittal on Direction of Judge	58	3%	62	3%	54	3%
TOTAL ACQUITTALS	110	6%	156	8%	132	6%
TOTAL	1752	100%	2052	100%	2142	100%

Chart 8 breaks down the prosecutions directed on indictment to be heard in the Circuit Court. The cases categorised as 'For Hearing' are those for which a verdict has not yet been recorded. In some of these cases, a trial may have begun but proceedings have been halted by a Judicial Review application. In other cases the defendant may have absconded before the trial and a bench warrant and/or extradition proceedings may be in process. Other cases, especially those of a complex nature, may not yet have come to trial. The greater proportion of cases 'For Hearing' makes the figures in more recent years less representative. This provision is also applicable to Charts 9 - 11. Where a trial results in a disagreement the case is treated as still being 'For Hearing' unless a nolle prosequi is entered.

Chart 8 OUTCOMES OF CASES PROSECUTED IN THE CIRCUIT CRIMINAL COURT

	Total			Conviction by Jury			Conviction on Plea			Acquittal by Jury			Acquittal by Direction of Judge			For Hearing			Other Disposals
	2004	2003	2002	2004	2003	2002	2004	2003	2002	2004	2003	2002	2004	2003	2002	2004	2003	2002	2004	2003	2002
Fatal Accident at Work	7	8	5	0	2	0	3	5	5	0	0	0	0	0	0	4	1	0	0	0	0
Fatal Road Traffic Accident	54	37	47	3	4	6	26	21	32	2	3	2	1	2	4	22	6	2	0	1	1
Manslaughter	9	9	15	0	1	2	2	2	10	0	0	1	0	0	0	7	6	2	0	0	0
Other Fatal Offences	0	2	1	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	0	0	0
Total - Fatal Offences	70	56	68	3	7	8	31	29	47	2	3	3	1	2	4	33	14	5	0	1	1
Burglary	253	267	267	5	3	6	158	194	197	1	5	3	5	5	0	76	58	59	8	2	2
Fraud	70	54	25	4	0	1	34	33	16	1	0	0	2	3	0	28	16	8	1	2	0
Robbery	402	405	487	1	11	12	280	299	345	1	2	3	4	3	4	100	76	111	16	14	12
Other Offences Against Property	204	234	256	4	4	15	123	137	177	1	4	4	3	8	11	66	71	42	7	10	7
Total - Offences Against Property	929	960	1035	14	18	34	595	663	735	4	11	10	14	19	15	270	221	220	32	28	21
Buggery	11	5	5	0	1	0	3	2	3	0	0	1	0	0	0	8	2	1	0	0	0
Child Pornography	8	31	16	0	0	1	4	23	11	0	0	0	0	1	0	4	7	4	0	0	0
Sexual Assault	70	87	84	3	5	5	29	42	39	3	10	7	1	2	2	34	25	22	0	3	9
Sex with an underage Girl	16	19	21	0	0	1	6	12	11	0	0	1	0	0	1	10	6	7	0	1	0
Other Sexual Offences	21	23	26	0	0	1	8	10	14	0	1	2	0	0	1	13	11	8	0	1	0
Total - Sexual Offences	126	165	152	3	6	8	50	89	78	3	11	11	1	3	4	69	51	42	0	5	9
Drug Offences	397	453	427	10	13	16	262	319	324	1	3	2	3	6	4	108	105	80	13	7	1
Firearms and Explosives Offences	123	145	88	6	4	9	65	93	59	4	2	2	2	3	0	41	39	16	5	4	2
Non Fatal Offences Against the Person	694	703	687	18	31	57	345	374	406	35	44	35	28	21	22	241	200	131	27	33	36
Public Order Offences	105	88	46	0	3	1	49	34	17	0	6	2	0	1	0	50	37	21	6	7	5
Revenue Offences	14	13	25	0	0	2	3	4	6	1	0	0	1	0	0	9	9	16	0	0	1
Other Offences	214	216	161	5	5	8	137	132	105	0	3	5	1	3	3	70	62	37	1	11	3
GRAND TOTAL	2672	2799	2689	59	87	143	1537	1737	1777	50	83	70	51	58	52	891	738	568	84	96	79

Chart 8a BREAKDOWN OF 'OTHER DISPOSALS' FROM CHART 8

	2004	2003	2002
Accused Deceased	1	3	4
Nolle Prosequi Entered	77	78	68
Struck Out	6	15	7
TOTAL	84	96	79

Chart 8b PROPORTION OF CONVICTIONS & ACQUITTALS FOR CASES FINALISED

	Total			Conviction			Acquittal
	2004	2003	2002	2004	2003	2002	2004	2003	2002
Fatal Accident at Work	3	7	5	100%	100%	100%	0%	0%	0%
Fatal Road Traffic Accident	32	30	44	91%	83%	86%	9%	17%	14%
Manslaughter	2	3	13	100%	100%	92%	0%	0%	8%
Other Fatal Offences	0	1	0	N/A	100%	N/A	N/A	0%	N/A
Total - Fatal Offences	37	41	62	92%	88%	89%	8%	12%	11%
Burglary	169	207	206	96%	95%	99%	4%	5%	1%
Fraud	41	36	17	93%	92%	100%	7%	8%	0%
Robbery	286	315	364	98%	98%	98%	2%	2%	2%
Other Offences Against Property	131	153	207	97%	92%	93%	3%	8%	7%
Total - Offences Against Property	627	711	794	97%	96%	97%	3%	4%	3%
Buggery	3	3	4	100%	100%	75%	0%	0%	25%
Child Pornography	4	24	12	100%	96%	100%	0%	4%	0%
Sexual Assault	36	59	53	89%	80%	83%	11%	20%	17%
Sex with an underage Girl	6	12	14	100%	100%	86%	0%	0%	14%
Other Sexual Offences	8	11	18	100%	91%	83%	0%	9%	17%
Total - Sexual Offences	57	109	101	93%	87%	85%	7%	13%	15%
Drug Offences	276	341	346	99%	97%	98%	1%	3%	2%
Firearms and Explosives Offences	77	102	70	92%	95%	97%	8%	5%	3%
Non Fatal Offences Against the Person	426	470	520	85%	86%	89%	15%	14%	11%
Public Order Offences	49	44	20	100%	84%	90%	0%	16%	10%
Revenue Offences	5	4	8	60%	100%	100%	40%	0%	0%
Other Offences	143	143	121	99%	96%	93%	1%	4%	7%
GRAND TOTAL	1697	1965	2042	94%	93%	94%	6%	7%	6%

Chart 9 outlines the result of cases directed for prosecution in the Special Criminal Court. Please note that in respect of the files received in 2004, none of the cases had reached a trial verdict at the time these statistics were collated.

Chart 9 OUTCOMES OF CASES PROSECUTED ON INDICTMENT IN THE SPECIAL CRIMINAL COURT

	Total			Conviction by Judges			Conviction on Plea			Conviction on Lesser Charge			Acquittal by Judges			sFor Hearing
	2004	2003	2002	2004	2003	2002	2004	2003	2002	2004	2003	2002	2004	2003	2002	2004	2003	2002
Firearms and Explosives Offences	0	11	2	0	0	2	0	4	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	7	0
Membership of Unlawful Organisation & Related Offences	9	24	14	0	6	2	0	1	7	0	12	0	0	1	0	9	4	5
TOTAL	9	35	16	0	6	4	0	5	7	0	12	0	0	1	0	9	11	5

Chart 9a BREAKDOWN OF 'CONVICTIONS ON LESSER CHARGE'

	Total			Conviction by Judges			Conviction on Plea
	2004	2003	2002	2004	2003	2002	2004	2003	2002
Firearms and Explosives Offences	0	12	0	0	0	0	0	12	0
TOTAL	0	12	0	0	0	0	0	12	0

Chart 9b PROPORTION OF CONVICTIONS & ACQUITTALS FOR CASES FINALISED (INCLUDING 'CONVICTION ON A LESSER CHARGE')

	Total			Conviction			Acquittal
	2004	2003	2002	2004	2003	2002	2004	2003	2002
Firearms and Explosives Offences	0	4	2	N/A	100%	100%	N/A	0%	0%
Membership of Unlawful Organisation & Related Offences	0	20	9	N/A	95%	100%	N/A	5%	0%
TOTAL	0	24	11

Chart 10 outlines the result of cases directed for prosecution in the Central Criminal Court and breaks down all cases by the most serious charge directed against the defendant. Supplementary charts break down the 'convictions on a lesser charge' and the 'other disposals' outcomes.

Chart 10 OUTCOMES OF CASES PROSECUTED ON INDICTMENT IN THE CENTRAL CRIMINAL COURT

	Total			Conviction by Jury			Conviction on Plea			Conviction on Lesser Charge			Acquittal by Jury			Acquittal by Direction of Judge			Other Disposals			For Hearing
	2004	2003	2002	2004	2003	2002	2004	2003	2002	2004	2003	2002	2004	2003	2002	2004	2003	2002	2004	2003	2002	2004	2003	2002
Murder	32	43	53	12	15	16	4	4	10	5	11	18	0	1	1	2	4	1	1	1	0	8	7	7
Rape	54	46	64	5	5	6	16	9	23	2	3	6	2	9	6	5	0	1	2	4	3	22	16	19
Attempted Murder	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Attempted Rape	1	1	1	0	0	0	1	0	1	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Aggravated Sexual Assault	2	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
TOTAL CASES	89	91	118	17	20	22	22	13	34	7	16	24	2	10	7	7	4	2	3	5	3	31	23	26

Chart 10a BREAKDOWN OF 'CONVICTIONS ON LESSER CHARGE' FOR CASES CATEGORISED AS MURDER OR ATTEMPTED MURDER

	Total			Conviction by Jury			Conviction on Plea
	2004	2003	2002	2004	2003	2002	2004	2003	2002
Manslaughter	4	10	17	3	6	11	1	4	6
Burglary	0	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0
Withholding Information	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0	0
Obstructing a Garda	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
Assault Causing Harm	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1	0
TOTAL	5	12	18	3	6	12	2	6	6

Chart 10b BREAKDOWN OF 'CONVICTIONS ON LESSER CHARGE' FOR CASES CATEGORISED AS RAPE OR ATTEMPT TO RAPE

	Total			Conviction by Jury			Conviction on Plea
	2004	2003	2002	2004	2003	2002	2004	2003	2002
Aggravated Sexual Assault	1	1	1	0	0	0	1	1	1
Sexual Assault	1	1	2	0	0	0	1	1	2
Sex with an Underage Girl	0	1	2	0	0	0	0	1	2
Possesion of Firearms with Intent to Endanger Life	0	0	1	0	0	0	0	0	1
Intent to Endanger Life	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0	0
Attempted Rape	0	1	0	0	1	0	0	0	0
TOTAL	2	4	6	0	1	0	2	3	6

Chart 10c BREAKDOWN OF 'OTHER DISPOSALS'

	2004	2003	2002
Nolle Prosequi Entered	3	4	2
Accused Deceased	0	0	1
Struck Out	0	1	0
TOTAL	3	5	3

Chart 10d PROPORTION OF CONVICTIONS & ACQUITTALS FOR CASES FINALISED (INCLUDING CONVICTIONS ON A LESSER CHARGE)

	Total			Conviction			Acquittal
	2004	2003	2002	2004	2003	2002	2004	2003	2002
Murder	23	35	46	91%	86%	96%	9%	14%	4%
Rape	30	26	42	77%	65%	83%	23%	35%	17%
Attempted Murder	0	1	0	N/A	100%	N/A	N/A	0%	N/A
Attempted Rape	1	1	1	100%	100%	100%	0%	0%	0%
Aggravated Sexual Assault	1	0	0	100%	N/A	N/A	0%	N/A	N/A
TOTAL	55	63	89	84%	78%	90%	16%	22%	10%

Chart 11 breaks down the case verdicts for each circuit criminal court. Unlike Chart 8, it does not include cases 'for hearing' or cases where the outcome is other than conviction or acquittal. Please note that in some cases, a trial may be held in a circuit court for a county other than that in which the offence was committed.

Chart 11 OUTCOMES OF CASES PROSECUTED ON INDICTMENT IN THE CIRCUIT CRIMINAL COURT BY COUNTY

	Total			Conviction by Jury			Conviction on Plea			Acquittal by Jury			Acquittal by Direction of Judge
	2004	2003	2002	2004	2003	2002	2004	2003	2002	2004	2003	2002	2004	2003	2002
Carlow	3	14	16	0	2	8	3	10	7	0	2	1	0	0	0
Cavan	19	20	38	0	0	0	18	18	37	1	2	0	0	0	1
Clare	35	42	42	0	3	8	30	31	30	1	7	2	4	1	2
Cork	159	210	219	10	10	14	134	182	190	0	8	3	15	10	12
Donegal	23	44	27	1	3	1	22	39	25	0	2	1	0	0	0
Dublin	992	1075	1132	25	31	59	929	995	1030	19	25	28	19	24	15
Galway	50	30	32	3	0	2	46	26	27	1	3	2	0	1	1
Kerry	28	46	39	0	1	2	25	38	28	3	4	7	0	3	2
Kildare	53	46	54	9	4	2	37	38	47	6	4	5	1	0	0
Kilkenny	19	11	17	0	1	0	18	9	12	1	1	3	0	0	2
Laois	11	9	25	0	2	7	11	7	18	0	0	0	0	0	0
Leitrim	3	14	3	0	1	1	3	13	2	0	0	0	0	0	0
Limerick	38	42	52	0	2	2	33	35	46	5	3	1	0	2	3
Longford	6	5	16	0	1	0	6	4	16	0	0	0	0	0	0
Louth	41	44	58	2	8	3	35	32	46	2	4	8	2	0	1
Mayo	33	23	16	4	1	0	23	19	14	5	1	0	1	2	2
Meath	29	40	41	0	0	9	28	38	28	1	1	2	0	1	2
Monaghan	8	21	24	0	1	2	8	19	20	0	1	1	0	0	1
Offaly	8	20	9	0	5	1	6	14	7	1	0	0	1	1	1
Roscommon	15	17	6	0	0	0	15	17	6	0	0	0	0	0	0
Sligo	29	37	9	2	3	2	22	32	7	1	0	0	4	2	0
Tipperary	14	28	39	0	2	6	14	21	33	0	1	0	0	4	0
Waterford	29	58	42	1	4	3	27	42	32	0	7	2	1	5	5
Westmeath	10	24	20	0	1	1	8	20	19	0	3	0	2	0	0
Wexford	22	22	28	2	1	5	18	19	21	2	2	1	0	0	1
Wicklow	20	23	38	0	0	5	18	19	29	1	2	3	1	2	1
TOTAL	1697	1965	2042	59	87	143	1537	1737	1777	50	83	70	51	58	52

Chart 11a PROPORTION OF CONVICTIONS & ACQUITTALS FOR CASES FINALISED

	Total			Conviction			Acquittal
	2004	2003	2002	2004	2003	2002	2004	2003	2002
Carlow	3	14	16	100%	86%	94%	0%	14%	6%
Cavan	19	20	38	95%	90%	97%	5%	10%	3%
Clare	35	42	42	86%	81%	90%	14%	19%	10%
Cork	159	210	219	91%	91%	93%	9%	9%	7%
Donegal	23	44	27	100%	95%	96%	0%	5%	4%
Dublin	992	1075	1132	96%	95%	96%	4%	5%	4%
Galway	50	30	32	98%	87%	91%	2%	13%	9%
Kerry	28	46	39	89%	85%	77%	11%	15%	23%
Kildare	53	46	54	87%	91%	91%	13%	9%	9%
Kilkenny	19	11	17	95%	91%	71%	5%	9%	29%
Laois	11	9	25	100%	100%	100%	0%	0%	0%
Leitrim	3	14	3	100%	100%	100%	0%	0%	0%
Limerick	38	42	52	87%	88%	92%	13%	12%	8%
Longford	6	5	16	100%	100%	100%	0%	0%	0%
Louth	41	44	58	90%	91%	84%	10%	9%	16%
Mayo	33	23	16	82%	87%	88%	18%	13%	13%
Meath	29	40	41	97%	95%	90%	3%	5%	10%
Monaghan	8	21	24	100%	95%	92%	0%	5%	8%
Offaly	8	20	9	75%	95%	89%	25%	5%	11%
Roscommon	15	17	6	100%	100%	100%	0%	0%	0%
Sligo	29	37	9	83%	95%	100%	17%	5%	0%
Tipperary	14	28	39	100%	82%	100%	0%	18%	0%
Waterford	29	58	42	97%	79%	83%	3%	21%	17%
Westmeath	10	24	20	80%	88%	100%	20%	13%	0%
Wexford	22	22	28	91%	91%	93%	9%	9%	7%
Wicklow	20	23	38	90%	83%	89%	10%	17%	11%
TOTAL	1697	1965	2042	94%	93%	94%	6%	7%	6%

Chart 12 shows the breakdown of office expenditure for 2005, 2004 & 2003.

Salaries & Wages: This represents the cost of salaries of staff employed in the Office. The total staff complement at 1 January 2005 was 170.75

Office Expenses: This relates to general office administration costs e.g. purchase and maintenance of office equipment, office supplies, library costs, office premises maintenance, travel and other incidental expenses.

Fees to Counsel: These are fees paid to the barristers who prosecute cases on behalf of the Director in the various criminal courts. Fees are set within the parameters set by the Minister for Finance.

General Law Expenses: This refers to the payment of legal costs awarded by the courts in judicial review matters and other applications connected to legal proceedings against the Director.

Chart 12 OFFICE EXPENDITURE

	2005	%	2004	%	2003	%
	€		€		€
Salaries Wages & Allowances	9,527,979	32%	8,458,701	30%	7,651,069	29%
Office Expenses	3,011,535	10%	2,926,165	10%	2,435,150	9%
Fees to Counsel	13,004,323	43%	12,374,056	43%	12,997,392	50%
General Law Expenses	4,615,021	15%	4,902,298	17%	3,121,648	12%
TOTAL	30,158,858	100%	28,661,220	100%	26,205,259	100%

Charts 13 & 14 show a breakdown of expenditure on fees to counsel in the various criminal courts and by region in respect of the Circuit Criminal Court.

Fees paid to counsel in the Central, Special & Circuit Criminal Courts cover advising on proofs, drafting indictments, holding consultations, arraignments, presentation of the case and other necessary appearances e.g. for sentence.

Expenditure on fees in the High Court covers mainly bail applications and the preparatory work and hearings associated with judicial reviews.

Chart 13 FEES TO COUNSEL PAID BY COURT

	2005	%	2004	%	2003	%
	€		€		€
Circuit Court	6,136,922	48%	5,659,687	46%	5,086,664	39%
Central Criminal Court	4,052,328	31%	3,961,620	32%	4,753,747	37%
High Court	1,446,021	11%	1,496,433	12%	1,479,486	11%
Supreme Court	158,891	1%	217,260	2%	178,963	1%
Court of Criminal Appeal	763,712	6%	710,182	6%	834,134	6%
Special Criminal Court	415,263	3%	267,303	2%	596,072	5%
District Court	31,188	0%	61,571	0%	68,326	1%
TOTAL	13,004,325	100%	12,374,056	100%	12,997,392	100%

Chart 14 FEES TO COUNSEL PAID BY CIRCUIT

	2005	%	2004	%	2003	%
	€		€		€
Dublin Circuit	3,510,505	57%	3,688,480	64%	3,188,025	62%
Cork Circuit	572,634	9%	226,288	4%	548,147	11%
Eastern Circuit	435,435	7%	384,148	7%	389,966	8%
Midland Circuit	350,921	6%	337,059	6%	184,909	4%
South Eastern Circuit	555,370	9%	548,822	10%	420,950	8%
South Western Circuit	221,661	4%	147,058	3%	138,093	3%
Western Circuit	237,047	4%	169,800	3%	115,019	2%
Northern Circuit	253,349	4%	158,032	3%	101,555	2%
TOTAL	6,136,922	100%	5,659,687	100%	5,086,664	100%