Victims of violent crime are finally getting their claims for compensation heard by a government board which has been criticised for its “serious backlog” of cases.

The Criminal Injuries Compensation Board met on September 11 when members heard applications and approved financial awards for a number of victims, The Royal Gazette understands.

Another hearing is set to take place this Wednesday, when more applications for compensation will be dealt with.

But one man, who was shot and injured in 2014 and has been waiting for a decision on compensation since he applied for an award in 2015, pledged this week to pursue a civil claim for damages against the board and the Government over the delay in handling his case.

The 26-year-old, who has suffered severe leg and back pain and depression since the attack, said: “It’s been such a long time. I have been struggling financially for so long.

“I have lifetime injuries because of it. The job I had before I got shot was a good paying job. Now I’m struggling with a job that doesn’t pay that much and they are trying to let me go from that because I’m not capable of doing certain things.”

The man, who asked to remain anonymous, added: “The delay makes it harder. I have a child that I need to support.”

His lawyer, Vaughan Caines, wrote to the Government on August 23 to say he’d been instructed to “issue proceedings seeking constitutional relief, inclusive of damages” against the board and “by extension, the Government”.

Mr Caines wrote that his client’s constitutional right to a fair hearing within a reasonable time had been breached.

He claimed the CICB had “failed to act on an embarrassment of applications for a number of years. Specifically, in [this] case, four years have passed since his application was first launched with the board.”

The man’s compensation claim is now due to be heard at the CICB hearing on Wednesday and Mr Caines is expected to attend to make representations regarding the amount of any award.

Separately, legal proceedings are expected to be filed in the Supreme Court if a settlement is not reached regarding the constitutional claim.

Mr Caines wrote in a letter dated September 3: “That [the victim] has had to wait at least four years for his matter to be heard is bordering on unconscionable.”

The Royal Gazette revealed last October that victims of crime were having to wait years for their compensation claims to be processed, prompting the Ombudsman to launch an investigation into possible maladministration.

A Court of Appeal judgment the following month said it appeared the CICB had no “plan for disposing of the serious backlog” of compensation claims. The panel of judges criticised the board, chaired by Puisne Judge Nicole Stoneham, for failing to provide the court with enough detail on whether most cases were dealt with in a timely fashion.

It noted it was the responsibility of the Attorney-General to ensure the CICB was “properly funded with adequate administrative support” to enable it to fulfil its statutory duty.

The court heard there were 37 outstanding applications from those who had lost a loved one or been injured themselves because of a violent crime.

Annual reports for the CICB do not appear to have been tabled in Parliament since 2015. It met only once in 2018, when it did not consider any cases.

According to this year’s Government Budget book, $170,000 was spent on criminal injuries in the financial year 2017-18 and $325,000 was set to be spent in 2018-19.

A further $380,000 was allocated for criminal injuries in this year’s budget.

Questions to the Government about the spending received no answers earlier this year.

A request for comment for this article from Mrs Justice Stoneham and Kathy Lynn Simmons, the Attorney-General, went unanswered by press time.