IRELAND
The Irish Times
CAROL COULTER, Legal Affairs Editor
LAST WEEK Minister for Justice Alan Shatter published the Criminal Justice (Withholding of Information on Offences Against Children and Vulnerable Adults) Bill.
This creates a criminal offence of withholding information in relation to serious offences, including sexual offences, committed against a child or vulnerable person.
The Bill will make it mandatory for a person who has or receives such information to pass it on to the Garda, except in certain limited circumstances, including when the child requests the person not to.
In announcing the Bill the Minister said: “The primary purpose of this Bill is to close an existing loophole in our current law.”
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