Child Law

"Child Law is an exceptional work... it stands out as an impressive and much-needed reference on the law as it relates to one of our nation's most valued resources"

The Hon. Mr Justice John L Murray, Chief Justice of Ireland, Four Courts, in the foreword to the new edition.

Child Law ? 2nd Edition is a fully comprehensive narrative text of 1,400 pages. Now part of the Brehon Library the new edition provides a detailed text with full analysis and commentary, offering
an assessment of the law together with suggested approaches to its practice.

This seminal text covers both civil and criminal aspects of child law and gives you a clear and incisive examination of the entire Irish child law system.
Child Law ? 2nd Edition has been fully revised to reflect all legislative changes since the first edition.

The new edition of Child Law will include all recent national and international court decisions. It also includes a commentary on all statutes and statutory instruments in the child law area that have come into force since the last edition.


CHILD LAW ? 2nd EDITION CONTAINS NEW MATERIAL INCLUDING:

1. Migrant children, child refugees and asylum seekers, separated children and trafficked children ? Considers the Immigration Residence, and Protection Bill 2008 and the Criminal Law (Human Trafficking) Act 2008.
2. Maintenance ? Considers the myriad of issues in relation to maintenance and children, including new rules on the recognition of foreign maintenance orders.
3. Children and the Criminal Justice System ? Reviews the child as an offender.
4. Child Sexual Abuse ? Deals with the child as a victim, including child abuse, sexual abuse of children, grooming, child pornography, vetting, and the Sex Offenders Register.
5. Medical Law ? Assisted Reproductive Technologies and the various family law issues are dealt with.
6. New Approaches to Children?s Interests ? Reviews the challenges in securing the best interest of children and young people in the context of the changing nature of family life in Ireland. It considers a range of issues that the legislature and courts will have to grapple with over the next few decades. These issues are explored in light of Ireland?s obligations under international law and in particular the European Convention on Human Rights, and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. The Civil Partnership Bill 2009 is also examined.


COMPREHENSIVE COVERAGE
* Considers the impact of the proliferation of increasingly complex international instruments on domestic child law.
* Deals with education and undertakes an examination of the right to education under the Constitution and the Education Acts.
* Comprehensive coverage of alternative care in the context of the role of the Health Service Executive under the Child Care Act, 1991 as amended by the Child Care (Amendment) Act, 2009, including the role of the HSE in childcare and protection, the placement of children outside the State, children with medical or psychiatric needs, child pornography, vetting and childcare services.
* Deals with the involvement of children in the legal process. It considers hearing the voice of the child, the separate representation of children and the role of the Ombudsman for Children.
* Examines in detail for the Adoption Act 2009.
* Considers international initiatives designed to combat child abuse as well as specific Irish issues regarding child abuse.
* Examines the position of migrant children, child refugees, child trafficiking, and asylum seekers.
* Deals with the emerging areas of medical treatment of minors and a range of issues that the legislature and courts will have to address over the next few decades.


ABOUT THE AUTHOR
Geoffrey Shannon is Ireland?s leading expert on the law relating
to children. Since the first edition of this seminal work, Geoffrey
Shannon has been appointed by the Government as Chairman of
the Adoption Board and a Special Rapporteur on Child Protection.
He has also been appointed by the Irish Economic and Social
Research Institute as the Child Law expert to the longitudinal study
of children, which is the most ambitious project of its kind ever to
have been commissioned in Ireland. He is editor of the Irish Journal
of Family Law and has published extensively in the areas of Family
and Child Law.

In March 2010, Geoffrey Shannon was appointed as a member of an expert review panel to examine the deaths of children in care of the State.