Loophole in law preventing child victims of homicide being named to be addressed

A loophole in the law, which prevented child victims of murder or manslaughter from being publicly identified, has been rectified in the Oireachtas.

The Dáil on Thursday amended the Children’s Act, which had stopped grieving parents and families from speaking publicly about their child in cases of unlawful killing.

A child cannot be identified in the media or their name reported if a defendant is charged with their homicide.

The legislation has been in place for more than 20 years but the loophole was only identified last October when the Court of Appeal ruled that section 252 preventing child victims of crime being identified, should also apply when the child is deceased.

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Minister for Justice Helen McEntee had pledged to amend the law and there was cross-party support to use a draft Bill introduced in the Seanad by Independent Senator Michael McDowell and championed in the Dáil by Fianna Fáil justice spokesman Jim O’Callaghan as a basis for closing the loophole.

Ms McEntee said the legislation would be fully implemented “in the coming weeks” and would restore the situation that applied before the Court’s ruling last year “to ensure that parents of deceased children can name them in public and remember them in the way they want” and “we will have dealt with an issue that caused significant hurt and pain to many”.

The amendments also dealt with concerns that the Bill might cause confusion around a Court’s flexibility, where another child might witness a child victim’s death.

Ms McEntee said the Bill would make the position “clear beyond any reasonable doubt”.

Mr O’Callaghan said the new wording “gives the court discretion in respect of a deceased child and the ability to name the child in circumstances where there may be another child witness who could be identified as a result of that”.

He said it also gives the court discretion in circumstances “where the child victim is not deceased and the child is, in fact, alive but still the victim of a criminal offence”.