Learning Lessons from the Past: Legal Issues Arising from Ireland\u27s Child Abuse Reports

Inquiries have played an important role in telling the stories of children abused and neglected in Ireland in situations of family abuse, clerical abuse and institutional abuse. The inquiries – associated with the name of the chairperson (Ryan) or by their geographical remit (Dublin, Ferns, Cloyne, Kilkenny and Roscommon) – serve to vindicate the rights of the children affected and to identify the failure of the authorities to protect children from harm. They also make numerous recommendations as to how children’s treatment can be improved. Although each inquiry had varying terms of reference, scope and status, together they address a wide range of issues of both specific and general significance to the issue of child protection. Focus is clearly placed on how child protection practice can be improved but many of the inquiries also comment on the legal framework and make recommendations for the reform of various aspects of child protection law and policy. This paper argues that the legal implications of these inquiries can be reduced to three overarching issues: the legislative provision for the mandatory reporting of child abuse; the need for robust and effective inspection mechanisms to ensure the protection of children, and the issue of constitutional law reform. The analysis shows that these measures are neither straightforward nor a panacea to the intractable problem of providing effective protection to children from abuse. However, taken with the other recommendations identified in the child abuse reports, they represent the beginning of a lasting legacy for the victims of abuse so tragically failed by their families, by the state and by society at large

Policing, young people, diversion and accountability in Ireland

The Irish police practice of diverting young offenders was placed within a statutory framework in 2001. The police discretion in the management of young offenders that had been a feature of the administrative process was retained at the heart of the new statutory programme although attempts were made to streamline the process. This article critiques the law, policy and practice underpinning the exercise of that discretion against the relevant international human rights standards on transparency, accountability and professionalism in juvenile justice. It reveals how the management of the programme in practice falls short of these standards and, in particular, the due process rights of the children who come within its reach. It argues that the root of the problem lies primarily in the lack of published criteria to guide the discretionary decision-making at several stages of the programme, and the lack of a credible complaint or review mechanism for the children affected. It recommends the publication of reasons for decisions taken in the exercise of Garda discretion in individual cases, together with provision for review or appeal of such decisions as well as regular independent monitoring of the operation of the programme as a whole

Children's rights behind bars. Human rights of children deprived of liberty: Improving monitoring mechanisms. National report: Ireland.

This report aims to provide a comprehensive picture of the legislative and policy landscape relating to the detention of children in Ireland, and the complaints and monitoring mechanisms available to them. The research was carried out in line with instructions provided by the DCI Project Co-ordinator and using questionnaires and templates provided by DCI

Barriers to the realisation of children’s rights in Ireland.

This research was commissioned in 2006 by the Ombudsman for Children as a baseline research study concerning children’s rights in Ireland. Its objective is to identify the principal obstacles children and young people face with regard to the realisation of their rights under the Convention on the Rights of the Child