BishopAccountability.org
	Court Orders Partial Release of Dublin Child Abuse Report By Mary Carolan The Irish Times October 15, 2009 http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/breaking/2009/1015/breaking5.htm The High Court has ruled most of the report of the Dublin Archdiocese Commission of Investigation into the handling by the Catholic Church authorities of child sex abuse allegations against priests in the diocese may be published. Mr Justice Paul Gilligan excluded from publication - at this stage- one chapter of the report on grounds it may prejudice criminal proceedings.The judge will later today hear submissions in private arising from his decision on publication and will then rule on those submissions in public. In a reserved judgment today on the publication issue, Mr Justice Gilligan said he had considered a range of issues, including the right to a fair trial, the community’s right to prosecute and the public interest. Balancing all those and other considerations, he ruled all but Chapter 19 of the report may be published at this stage. He said he will reconsider the issue of publication of Chapter 19 on May 5th next. The judgment follows in camera proceedings on the issue which were heard on October 1st and 2nd last. The report was compiled followed an investigation by the Commission into how clerical child sex abuse allegations involving a sample of 46 priests were handled by Catholic Church authorities in Dublin between January 1st, 1975, and April 30th, 2004. Three of the cases which were investigated concern men currently on child-abuse charges, the first of whom will not face trial until April of next year. Under section 38 of the Commission of Investigation Act 2004, the Minister for Justice must seek directions from the High Court if it is felt publication of a commission report might prejudice criminal proceedings, pending or in progress. On receipt of the report last July, Minister for Justice Dermot Ahern referred it to the Attorney General who, in turn, advised it be referred to the High Court. In doing so, the Minister said he was anxious the matters dealt with in the report were “put into the public domain as quickly as possible”. He also expressed concern nothing should be done that would harm the prospects of perpetrators of abuse being brought to justice. Archbishop Diarmuid Martin of Dublin has said his “personal preference would be for the report to come out quickly and in its integrity because, reading it in its integrity, the question emerges better”.
Any original material on these pages is copyright © BishopAccountability.org 2004. Reproduce freely with attribution.