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Fianna Fáil TD Jim O’Callaghan has said that the Government must act to amend Section 252 of the Juvenile Law, after the Court of Appeals ruled yesterday that a dead child cannot be identified when someone is accused of killing him.
The ruling also means that the person charged with the murder or manslaughter of the child cannot be named if in doing so the child would also be identified.
Speaking on RTÉ’s Today with Philip Boucher Hayes, Mr. O’Callaghan said the situation was “absurd”.
The Dublin Bay South TD said that instead of criticizing the court, the Oireachtas needs to introduce amended legislation.
“I think the government needs to move this forward, I’ll introduce a private member bill, but what really needs to happen is Minister (Helen) McEntee should attach an amendment provision to the next piece of criminal justice legislation that comes out from her Department so that we can have an amendment to Section 252 of the Children’s Law to overcome what is absurd today. “
O’Callaghan said yesterday’s decision emphasized that the act section involved prevented the publication or transmission of any details about a child who was the victim of a crime if that detail could identify the child.
He said that this means that if a child was killed by a family member or someone close to them, the accused cannot be identified, as that could lead to the identification of the child, which he said was “not a feasible situation for the country. . “.
O’Callaghan said people must recognize that when looking at the legal provision, the court did not have many options and stressed that it is up to the Oireachta to act now and “act quickly.”
He said legislation will be needed rather than intervention by Justice Minister Helen McEntee to amend Section 252 of the 2001 Children’s Act in such a way as to exclude, he said, crimes related to the murder of a child.
He said he probably should “go a little further” as well.
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