2017 Volume 1: Introduction
We publish here the first volume of our reports for 2017, a number of them extremely long. This is the second year in which we are publishing reports twice-yearly, compared with quarterly for the first three years of the CCLRP. Since the end of 2015 we have scaled down our reporting, while also examining in detail some lengthy and complex cases. This involves interviewing the key professionals involved in such cases and a report on the result of this research will be published at the end of the year.
The 22 reports published here include six from the High Court Minor’s List, where we track cases through multiple reviews in the High Court of cases where children are detained in therapeutic units, often abroad, for their own welfare. The cases also include a lengthy report of a Circuit Court appeal of an earlier District Court decision to make Care Orders for five children. The Circuit Court upheld the original orders.
This is one of five very lengthy cases. All of them concern allegations of sex abuse against one or both of the parents. They raise complex issues about the admission of evidence, the assessment of child sex abuse and the difficulty for the District Court in running such cases. We hope that the publication of such lengthy and detailed reports of such cases will contribute to the discussion of the issues they raise and how they can be dealt with.
