O'Keeffe v Ireland and the duty of the state to identify and prevent child abuse

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Acknowledgements

Dr O'Mahony and Professor Kilkelly and their students, as the Child Law Clinic, provided support to Louise O'Keeffe's legal team from the outset of the application to the ECtHR to its final conclusion in the Grand Chamber. For more information on their role in the case see: http://www.pila.ie/bulletin/february-2014/18-february/guest-article-by-ucc-s-professor-ursula-kilkelly-dr-conor-o-mahony-the-louise-o-keeffe-case-success-in-strasbourg-with-t/

Notes

^1. For an overview of the relevant principles of Irish law relating to vicarious liability, see McMahon and W Binchy, 2000, Chapter 43.

^2. Hardiman J delivered the leading judgment, and a separate judgment was delivered by Fennelly J. Murray CJ concurred with aspects of each judgment, while Denham J concurred with Fennelly J. Geoghegan J dissented.

^3. On the interpretation of the ECHR as a living instrument, see Dzehtsiarou & O'Mahony, 2013, p. 309.

^4. Department of Minister and Youth Affairs, 2011. The first guidance was issued in 1977 according to the Ombudsman for Children. See Ombudsman for Children, 2010, p. 6.

^5. The Children First Bill, No. 30 of 2014, was published on 14 April 2014 and is available at http://www.oireachtas.ie