|
Positive
Outcomes
The HSE report stated that if HSE’s prosecution
service moves to this model, "we expect
to see the following outcomes"
| 6.1 |
| - |
a
consistent national approach to prosecutions
across HSE; |
| - |
an
assurance that the right charges are
brought, thereby enabling courts to
sentence appropriately; |
| - |
an
independent check of the decision
to prosecute which is outside the
current line management safeguards,
thus improving the quality of HSE
prosecutions |
| - |
Á
Fully Closed (Exemption 2 & 4(d)); |
| |
control
over solicitor agents (particularly
monitoring performance and fees). |
A
more centralised system will also enable
HSE to put in place central quality assurance
and inspection systems in relation to its
prosecution functions. |
| 6.2 |
The
proposed system would relieve inspectors
from administrative burdens associated with
case preparation and release them for inspection
and investigation activities. Early legal
advice would help to identify effective
lines of inquiry during initial stages of
an investigation. Once the case was referred
to the team for review, the lawyer would
identify promptly any further evidential
issues that needed to be addressed. |
| 6.3 |
The
model encourages joint working which should
promote better more robust prosecutions,
and would maximise the use of the skills
of specialist staff. |
| 6.4 |
Because of the current lack of clear information
and statistics we could not do a cost benefit
analysis of the model, at this stage. The
pilot will enable us to conduct such an
exercise, and consider whether, for example,
there could be savings on the spend on prosecution
costs through conducting much of the prosecution
work in -house. |
| 6.5 |
In theory, a prosecution team should remove
some of the administrative burdens from
inspectors. However, initially these benefits
will not necessarily be apparent. The oversight
of a case by an independent lawyer and inspector
may place additional demands on the investigating
inspector. But as the system beds in, we
do foresee a more streamlined and ultimately
more cost effective system which should
minimise administrative burdens for all,
as well as ensuring high quality prosecutions. |
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