In 2021 ICCL wrapped up its work on DREP, a European wide project funded by the EU Justice Programme and coordinated by Fair Trials International.
DREP took an in-depth look at defence rights in evidentiary procedures and gathered knowledge about the extent to which defendants can participate in and gain access to evidence gathering procedures and challenge the admissibility of unlawfully-gathered evidence. DREP examined which evidentiary remedies are available for procedural rights violations and how that impacts effective implementation of the EU Directives on defence rights in criminal proceedings. The project was carried out in four other European Union (EU) member states including Ireland, Croatia, Lithuania, Poland and Sweden.
ICCL conducted research and hosted advocacy events on topics such as the exclusionary rule in DPP v JC and the inefficiencies of legal aid as a barrier to the effective challenging of illegally obtained evidence and the ability to benefit from evidentiary remedies.
The domestic research report on Ireland can be found here.
The final project report a can be found here.
