The High Court has ruled that it retains discretion to lift the in-camera rule in special care proceedings under Part IVA of the Child Care Act 1991. It permitted the Child Care Law Reporting Project (CCLRP) and an academic researcher to attend and report on the proceedings, subject to anonymisation to protect the child’s privacy.
The judgment, delivered by Ms Justice Reynolds on 4 October 2018, concerned an application seeking permission to attend special care hearings, access relevant court documents and produce anonymised case histories and reports. The Child and Family Agency did not oppose attendance in principle, but questioned whether the court had jurisdiction to allow it under the statutory regime. The child’s mother adopted the Legal Aid Board’s position that the court retained discretion, to be used sparingly with the parties’ privacy protected. The guardian ad litem supported the application.
Part IVA proceedings must be heard otherwise than in public under section 23NH. Unlike provisions governing certain District Court childcare proceedings, that section contains no express mechanism for researchers to attend and report. The judgment also noted that a rule of the Superior Courts appeared to provide for applications by researchers and press members on the basis of statutory provisions that did not apply to the new Part IVA regime.
The court concluded that section 23NH did not impose an absolute bar on lifting the in-camera rule. Referring to earlier Irish decisions and the need for an interpretation compatible with the European Convention on Human Rights, Ms Justice Reynolds held that the court retained the power to permit attendance in appropriate cases.
On the application before it, the court found that the child’s best interests were met by allowing the CCLRP and the researcher to report, provided the child’s privacy was protected through anonymisation. The judgment records that conclusion and permission for the application; it does not state that the court ordered the release of any particular court document.