Child Sexual Abuse

The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has been granted leave from the High Court to exercise its amicus curiae function in a significant case focused on redress for survivors of historic child sexual abuse in schools. As amicus curiae in the case of PD v. The Minister for Education, the wat

The High Court has approved a settlement of €350,000 for a man who claimed to have been sexually abused while attending a secondary school operated by a religious order. It was held that the settlement was "excellent" in circumstances where the plaintiff faced substantial difficulties proving h

The High Court has ruled that a key provision of legislation related to prosecutions of child sexual assault cases is invalid under the Constitution. The plaintiff challenged the constitutionality of section 3 of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2006, which provided that the “reasonable

Ireland is set to ratify the Lanzarote Convention on protecting children from sexual exploitation and sexual abuse, Justice Minister Helen McEntee has announced. Earlier this year, Ireland became the only Council of Europe member state that had not ratified the Lanzarote Convention, which Ireland si

The High Court has quashed a decision by Tusla, the Child and Family Agency (CFA), reaching a “provisional conclusion” that a man had engaged in sexual acts with a child in its review of historic sex abuse allegations. Mr Justice Garrett Simons said that the case illustrated “the v

Child sexual exploitation laws in Northern Ireland are set to be strengthened following the completion of a recent review, Justice Minister Naomi Long has said. New legislation expected early next year will remove outdated terms such as "child prostitution" from existing legislation, ban adults from

The Law Society of Ireland has welcomed news that the government is to ratify the Lanzarote Convention on child sexual exploitation and sexual abuse. Earlier this month, Ireland became the only Council of Europe member state that had not ratified the Lanzarote Convention, which it signed in October

A former prosecution barrister has been sentenced to 100 hours' community service and given a two-year probation order for making and possessing indecent images of children and possession of extreme pornography. Jonathan Lowry, 60, who was once a leading prosecutor in Belfast and Dungannon Crown Cou

Ireland will start the process to ratify the Lanzarote Convention on child sexual exploitation and sexual abuse, having previously been the only signatory which had not completed its ratification. Earlier this month, Ireland became the only Council of Europe member state that had not ratified the La

Ireland has become the only signatory to the Lanzarote Convention on child sexual exploitation and sexual abuse which has not completed its ratification. Armenia yesterday became the 47th state to complete the ratification of the Council of Europe's Convention on Protection of Children against Sexua

Former police officer Judith Gillespie has been appointed for a one-year term as the new independent chair on an inter-departmental working group on Mother and Baby Homes, Magdalene laundries and historical clerical child abuse. Ms Gillespie is the third person named as chair of the troubled group,

A watchdog has raised concerns about how the criminal justice system responds to child sexual exploitation (CSE) in Northern Ireland. In a report published today, Criminal Justice Inspection Northern Ireland (CJI) highlighted a lack of clear leadership and strategic direction around tackling CSE.

Criminal cases concerning possession or distribution of child abuse material are taking up to 10 years to be dealt with, according to new analysis. Dublin Circuit Criminal Court sentenced 45 offenders between 1 January 2018 and 1 January 2020, according to figures obtained by The Irish Times.

The Provincial of the Oblate Fathers of Ireland has been granted an order dismissing personal injury proceedings brought against him, in which a man who alleged he had suffered sexual abuse by an Oblate priest in the 1950s sought to hold him vicariously liable for the priests actions. Dismissing the

A pilot project to introduce a "child-centred" approach to dealing with child sexual abuse, based on the Icelandic "Barnahus" model, has been launched in Galway. The Barnahus, Onehouse Galway service will see the Department of Children and Youth Affairs, Department of Health and Department of Justic