Why it’s safe to remain silent
In this regard there is a little known crime called 'misprision of felony,' failure to report the commission of a crime.
In her report on the Kilkenny Incest Inquiry, Mrs Justice Catherine McGuinness made direct reference to the indictable criminal offence 'misprision of felony.'
In July, 1998, criminal proceedings, under 'misprision of felony' contrary to the Accessories and Abettors Act (1861), were taken against certain members of State bodies who, it was alleged, had failed to report to the gardaí a confirmed case of incest and cruelty to a child.
When the case came for hearing in the District Court, the judge informed the complainant that the Accessories and Abettors Act (1861) had been repealed in 1997 and the case was thrown out.
As far as I know there has been no legislation to replace the indictable criminal offence 'misprision of felony.'
It is worth noting the comments of barrister and law lecturer Paul Anthony McDermot, (Magill, May, 2002). There was a criminal offence called misprision of felony which imposed a duty on all citizens to disclose to the proper authorities all material facts as to the commission of a felony of which they had knowledge.
"Now, unless money has changed hands, there is no crime in keeping quiet. Misprision of a felony was a broad, flexible offence. I don't know what the intention was behind changing it was it accidental or deliberate. But it has left a lacuna in the criminal law," he wrote.
What is clearly indicated is the fact that no one, irrespective of status , will ever be prosecuted or held to account for their failure to report an alleged case of child sexual abuse to the gardaí or health board, be it historical or current
Edward P Hernon,
37, Robinson's Court,
Cork Street,
Dublin 8.
