COUNSELLING NOTES OF victims may no longer be used in most sexual offence trials under a law change sought by Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan.

There would be a “presumption of non-disclosure” under the proposals, meaning the default position would be that counselling notes would remain private.

However, they may be disclosed if it is deemed to be “in the interest of justice”. This would only be in a “very small number of cases”.

Furthermore, a “disclosure hearing” in front of a judge would have to take place, as opposed to the current system where judicial oversight is waived.

The judge would have to rule that the notes contain material relevant to legal proceedings.

Minister Callaghan will seek to apply the same conditions to other records containing sensitive personal data, such as medical records and child protection records.

The proposed amendments to the Criminal Law and Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill are go to Cabinet tomorrow.

In November, the Oireachtas Justice Committee recommended a complete and unconditional ban on the use of counselling records in sexual offence trials.

It advised against giving a judge the power to ultimately decide if they can be used or not.