Cllrs back motion demanding ban on the use of victims’ counselling notes in sexual and gender-based violence trials

Meath County Council has been urged to formally call on the Department of Justice to ban the use of victims’ counselling notes in sexual and gender-based violence trials, following a motion brought before the council at its February meeting.

The motion, submitted by councillor Helen Meyer, asked the council to write to the Department of Justice “without delay” seeking legislation to prohibit the disclosure of counselling records in criminal trials involving sexual offences.

Addressing the meeting, Cllr Meyer said she was speaking on behalf of survivors of sexual abuse and described the current practice as deeply unjust and harmful.

“Many people don’t realise that counselling notes created to help survivors heal are routinely used against them in court,” she said. “That practice forces survivors into an impossible choice: seek therapy or seek justice. You can’t have both.”

She acknowledged that men are also victims of sexual assault but said women are disproportionately affected, adding that her remarks were intended to include all survivors, regardless of gender.

Cllr Meyer told councillors that the Minister for Justice is due to bring proposed amendments before the Dáil which would allow a judge to review counselling records and decide whether some or all of them could be admitted as evidence in sexual offence trials.

However, she warned that such an approach fundamentally misunderstands the purpose of counselling. “Therapy notes are not evidence,” she said. “They are a space for healing. Treating them as evidence ignores the complexity of trauma.”

She also expressed concern that proposed changes to Section 19A would remove a victim’s right to consent to the disclosure of their counselling records, describing this as a further erosion of survivors’ autonomy within an already disempowering legal process.

Cllr Meyer said she had met with therapists and survivors who are campaigning for a complete ban on the use of counselling notes in court and said frontline practitioners see the harm caused by the practice at first hand.

She pointed to national and regional statistics, noting that Ireland has a higher-than-average rate of reported rape compared with other EU countries, while domestic abuse incidents have risen sharply in recent years.

“These issues don’t exist somewhere else,” she said. “They belong to Meath. They belong to our communities and to the people we represent.”

The motion received broad support from councillors and was agreed by the council.

The motion comes amid ongoing Government consideration of changes to the law governing the disclosure of counselling records in sexual offence trials.

There will be a presumption of non-disclosure of counselling notes in sexual offence trials under measures approved by Cabinet. Justice Minister Jim O’Callaghan said legislation will provide that such records may only be released where a judge, following a disclosure hearing, determines they are relevant to the proceedings and that disclosure is required in the interests of justice.

He said the measures would restrict the use of counselling notes “as far as possible”, following advice from the Attorney General that a complete ban would be unconstitutional.

The default position, he said, would be that counselling notes are not disclosed, except in a small number of cases where a judge finds there is a risk of an unfair trial.

The same statutory protection regime will also apply to other sensitive records held by victims, including medical records, child protection files and similar personal documents.

Cabinet also approved an application-based statutory disregard scheme for certain historical convictions relating to consensual same-sex activity, as well as measures allowing for the refusal of bail in cases involving witness intimidation or failure to comply with requirements under the Sex Offenders Act 2001.