C. was a 13 year-old girl who became pregnant as a result of rape allegedly by a family friend and was now in State care. The health board sought a court order to allow her to travel outside the State to obtain an abortion because abortion was illegal in Ireland except where the pregnancy formed a real and substantial risk to the woman's life. The Court granted the health board's order permitting C. to travel outside the State to obtain an abortion.
The 2017 Act amends and extends the law in relation to the adoption of children and made conforming amendments to other legislation. Among other things, the Act, in conjunction with the Children and Family Relationships Act 2015 (available here), enables adoption by same-sex couples. The Act, in particular, amends use of heterosexual phrases in legislation, introducing more neutral terminology for words such as “parent” and “relative” (Section 3).
X was a 14-year-old girl who became pregnant and suicidal after being raped. Her parents tried to take her to England in order to obtain a first-trimester abortion that was illegal in Ireland, but the Attorney General obtained an interim injunction from the High Court restraining the girl and her parents from leaving the country for a period of nine months or from arranging an abortion for her.
The 1998 Act prohibits trafficking of children for the purposes of sexual exploitation.
The Act provides for parentage in case of donor-assisted human reproduction (“DAHR”) (Part 2), issues relating to DAHR facilities (including acquisition of gametes by operators) (Part 3), and amendments to the Guardianship of Infants Act 1964 (Part 4), Family Law (Maintenance of Spouses and Children) Act 1976, the Status of Children Act 1987, Family Law Act 1995, and among other legislation, to reflect rights and responsibilities of spouses or civil partners of biological parents and to take into account DAHR situations.
The 2015 Act imposes certain reporting obligations on organizations and groups of professionals that provide ‘relevant services’ to children (listed in Schedule 1 of the Act). The Act requires, inter alia, the provision of child safeguarding statements (Part 2), reporting by ‘mandated persons’ and ‘authorized persons’ (Part 3); and inter-departmental/sectoral implementation plans (e.g., information-sharing). The legislation also abolishes the common-law defense of “reasonable chastisement.” (Section 28).
The Civil Registration Act 2019 made technical amendments to the Civil Registration Act of 2004, the purposes of which were to facilitate legislation to provide for registration of the birth of donor-conceived children, and to enable both partners in a same-sex female relationship to have their details recorded in such registrations. Specifically, Section 10 provides for the recording of a ‘parent’s’ details and any parent may so register although the options of ‘mother’ and ‘father’ are still available.
This code was prepared by the Equality Authority with the approval of the Minister for Justice and Equality and after consultation with relevant organizations representing equality interests. The code does not impose any legal obligations, nor is it an authoritative statement of the law. It aims to give practical guidance to employers, employers’ organizations, trade unions, and employees on what is meant by sexual harassment and harassment in the workplace, how it may be prevented, and what steps to take if it does occur to ensure that adequate procedures are readily available
This Act criminalized female genital mutilation and related offences in Ireland. Section 1 defines female genital mutilation as any act the purpose or effect of which is the excision, infibulation or other mutilation of the whole or any part of the labia majora, labia minora, prepuce of the clitoris, clitoris, or vagina.
The 2012 Act makes it an offence to withhold information, without reasonable excuse, about certain offences against children and vulnerable adults from the Garda Síochána (Sections 2 and 3). These ‘certain offences’ include, inter alia, murder, assault, false imprisonment, rape, sexual assault, and incest.
