Feedback and Complaints Policy

This policy covers any communication which expresses dissatisfaction with, or criticism of, the services provided by the Office of the DPP which directly affect you.  For example, such feedback may relate to:

• The effectiveness and efficiency of the work of the prosecution service; for example, a delayed response to a letter you have sent to us, or you may feel your rights as a victim have not been met.
• The manner in which a person was treated by a member of staff of the Office of the DPP or by someone acting on our behalf, for example, a state solicitor, or barrister instructed by the Office of the DPP.
• Any failure to adhere to the Code of Ethics.  The Office of the DPP’s Code of Ethics, is available by clicking here.

This policy does not cover dissatisfaction with decisions to prosecute or not to prosecute.  If you are a victim of crime (or a family member of a victim in a fatal case) and are unhappy with a decision not to prosecute, there is a different process by which you can ask us for a summary of the reasons for the decision or for a review of the decision.  You can learn more about how to do this on the Decisions Not to Prosecute section of our website.

The Office of the DPP complaints procedure is not the appropriate mechanism for accused persons to seek to have the cases against them withdrawn or to overturn their convictions.  If you are an accused person in this situation, you should instead seek independent legal advice.

Where a complaint relates to ongoing criminal cases, we may only be able to provide limited information.  We reserve the right not to deal with a complaint in relation to an ongoing case if it might prejudice the proceedings.

This policy is also not intended to deal with Dignity at Work or grievance related issues arising between staff members of the Office of the DPP.  Such matters are dealt with via the relevant Civil Service procedures, for example, Circular 11/2001: Revised Procedure for Dealing with Grievance Problems.

This policy does not cover dissatisfaction with decisions to prosecute or not to prosecute.  If you are a victim of crime (or a family member of a victim in a fatal case) and are unhappy with a decision not to prosecute, there is a different process by which you can ask us for a summary of the reasons for the decision or for a review of the decision.  You can learn more about how to do this on the Decisions Not to Prosecute section of our website.

The Office of the DPP complaints procedure is not the appropriate mechanism for accused persons to seek to have the cases against them withdrawn or to overturn their convictions.  If you are an accused person in this situation, you should instead seek independent legal advice.

Where a complaint relates to ongoing criminal cases, we may only be able to provide limited information.  We reserve the right not to deal with a complaint in relation to an ongoing case if it might prejudice the proceedings.

This policy is also not intended to deal with Dignity at Work or grievance related issues arising between staff members of the Office of the DPP.  Such matters are dealt with via the relevant Civil Service procedures, for example, Circular 11/2001: Revised Procedure for Dealing with Grievance Problems.

Complaints

A complaint can be made by any service user (or through their nominated representative, for example, a family member or a solicitor) who has been directly affected by a service provided by the Office of the DPP.

We will not respond to complaints by members of the public who are not directly connected to a case.

Feedback

We encourage feedback on our policies, procedures and performance, both positive and negative, and welcome your opinion on any aspect of our service.  Anyone can provide such feedback at any time.  General feedback of this kind will not be dealt with under our complaints procedure.  However, it will normally be acknowledged, recorded and analysed to help us maintain and continuously improve the quality of service we provide to the public.

Our feedback and complaints procedure is easy to use.  If you wish to provide general feedback on the prosecution service, or if you wish to make a complaint, you can do so in the following ways:

By letter to:

Feedback and Complaints Officer
Head of Governance and Communications
Office of the Director of Public Prosecutions
Infirmary Road
Dublin 7
D07 FHN8

Online:  General Feedback Form or Complaints Form

If you are making a complaint, please provide as much information as possible about the case in which you were involved.

We will record and acknowledge receipt of your complaint within five working days and provide an estimate of how long it will take to respond to you.  We will aim to send you a full response, where possible, within six weeks.

In some cases, we may be able to resolve your complaint very promptly and simply.  This might happen, for example, if we can provide you with more information, correct a mistake we made, or explain a particular procedure to you.

If your complaint is of a more serious nature, we will refer it to one of our senior managers who will examine the matter.  If your complaint takes longer than six weeks to deal with, we will write to you and let you know why this is so, and when you can expect a reply.

If you are not satisfied with the way we dealt with your complaint, you can seek a review within four weeks of receiving your response.  The Deputy Director will deal with your request for a review.