Child care proceedings in non-specialist courts: the experience in Ireland

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dc.check.date2018-04-15
dc.check.infoAccess to this item is restricted until 24 months after publication by the request of the publisheren
dc.contributor.authorO'Mahony, Conor
dc.contributor.authorBurns, Kenneth
dc.contributor.authorParkes, Aisling
dc.contributor.authorShore, Caroline
dc.contributor.funderUniversity College Corken
dc.date.accessioned2016-05-24T11:31:18Z
dc.date.available2016-05-24T11:31:18Z
dc.date.issued2016-04-15
dc.date.updated2016-05-23T11:29:47Z
dc.description.abstractIt is widely accepted that court proceedings concerning child protection are a particularly sensitive type of court proceedings that warrant a different approach to other types of proceedings. Consequently, the use of specialized family or children’s judges or courts is commonplace across Europe and in common law jurisdictions. By contrast, in Ireland, proceedings under the Child Care Act 1991 are heard in the general courts system by judges who mostly do not specialize in child or family law. In principle, the Act itself and the associated case law accept that the vulnerability of the parties and the sensitivity of the issues involved are such that they need to be singled out for a different approach to other court proceedings. However, it is questionable whether this aspiration has been realized in a system where child care proceedings are mostly heard in a general District Court, using the same judges and the same physical facilities used for proceedings such as minor crime and traffic offences. This article draws on the first major qualitative analysis of professional perspectives on child care proceedings in the Irish District Court. It examines evidence from judges, lawyers, social workers, and guardians ad litem and asks whether non-specialist courts are an appropriate venue for proceedings on an issue as complex and sensitive as child protection, or whether the establishment of specialist family courts with dedicated staff and facilities provides a better solution.en
dc.description.sponsorshipUniversity College Cork (UCC Strategic Research Fund, the School of Law Strategic Fund and the College of Arts, Celtic Studies and Social Science)en
dc.description.statusPeer revieweden
dc.description.versionAccepted Versionen
dc.format.mimetypeapplication/pdfen
dc.identifier.citationO’Mahony, C., Burns, K., Parkes, A. and Shore, C. (2016) 'Child Care Proceedings in Non-Specialist Courts: The Experience in Ireland', International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family, 30(2), pp. 131-157. doi: 10.1093/lawfam/ebw001en
dc.identifier.doi10.1093/lawfam/ebw001
dc.identifier.endpage21en
dc.identifier.endpage157
dc.identifier.issn1360-9939
dc.identifier.journaltitleInternational Journal Of Law, Policy And The Familyen
dc.identifier.startpage1en
dc.identifier.startpage131
dc.identifier.urihttps://hdl.handle.net/10468/2607
dc.identifier.volume30
dc.language.isoenen
dc.publisherOxford University Pressen
dc.rights© The Authors 2016. Published by Oxford University Press. All rights reserved. This is a pre-copyedited, author-produced PDF of an article accepted for publication in International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family following peer review. The version of record O’Mahony, C., Burns, K., Parkes, A. & Shore, C. 2016. Child Care Proceedings in Non-Specialist Courts: The Experience in Ireland. International Journal of Law, Policy and the Family. is available online at: http://lawfam.oxfordjournals.org/content/early/2016/04/15/lawfam.ebw001.abstracten
dc.subjectChild protectionen
dc.subjectChild Care Act 1991en
dc.subjectIrelanden
dc.subjectFamily courtsen
dc.subjectDistrict courtsen
dc.titleChild care proceedings in non-specialist courts: the experience in Irelanden
dc.typeArticle (peer-reviewed)en
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