Amendment will help child abuse victims

We, the undersigned, call on Minister for Justice and Equality Alan Shatter and all Oireachtas members to support amending the Courts Bill 2013 to regulate the admission of the counselling notes of the child witness in a sexual violence criminal case.

A current gap in our law means that parents of child abuse victims currently face the devastating and frightening possibility that to seek justice and the protection of other children requires making their child’s intimate counselling notes available for the court case, perhaps to devastating effect in undermining their child.

This process of exposing the child is currently without any formal control or oversight by a judge. This is deeply distressing and unacceptable.