New Children’s Rights Explained

August 2012

With the passing of the 28th Amendment to the Constitution, Article 42 to allow for Children’s Rights to be enshrined in the Irish Constitution, the list below while not exhaustive, are the new rules for Parents to be aware of. These Rights are indisputable and supercede all Irish Law, Statutory or Constitutional, as defined in the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child, (UNCRC) and the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Mental Disability (UNCRPMD) to which Ireland is signatory.

• All Children will be Vaccinated for every known illness regardless of the views or wishes of the parent. Failure to comply will result in your child being removed and placed for Adoption.

• Children can no longer be viewed as the “Property” of Parents, Children are not Chattels to be owned or traded (except by Governments), the Parental Right of vindicating the “Best Interests” of every Child in Ireland now passes to the Government.

• Children regardless of age, have the Right to Contraception regardless of the Parents knowledge or wishes. Failure to comply will result in your child being removed and placed for Adoption.

• Children regardless of age have the Right to Abortion on demand, regardless of the knowledge or wishes of the Parent. Failure to comply will result in your child being removed and placed for Adoption.

• All Children regardless of age have the Right to choose their Religion, parents may only advise their child. This may be interpreted as Catholic Education or any Religious School or Institution as also being incompatible with the UNCRC. This can be contested by any child in Ireland under the UNCRC. Catholic Baptism, First Holy Communion and Confirmation may also be incompatible but remain to be tested in the Courts.

• Children have the Right to Divorce their Parents and the Irish Courts can terminate the Parental Rights of any Parent without “Due Process of Law”.

• In all disputes between Parents and Children, regardless of age, the State will decide the “Best Interests of the Child”. The State as Legal Guardian for all Irish Children will consider the Child’s wishes as paramount to the Parents. Failure to comply will result in your child being removed and placed for Adoption.

• Children will be removed from Parents and placed for Adoption regardless of the wishes of the Parent. The State as Legal Guardian reserves the Right to remove any child, at any time. for any reason and place the children with Adoptive Parents deemed more suitable than the Birth Parents. Siblings may be seperated and the Child’s Relatives have no legal Right in regard to the Child.

• The State reserves the Right to enter any home or dwelling at any time, without Warrant or Court Order to inspect, instruct Parents, gather evidence, or any activity deemed to be in the “Best Interests of the Child”.

• Any presumed Rights of Parents are null and void when a Child crosses the Threshold of a School, Hospital, Public Building.

• “Reasonable Chastisment” of a Child is now illegal. Parents may not administer “Time-outs”, “Grounding”, Slapping or Spanking, “Detention” in Schools, Withdrawl of Privleges or any form of punishment on a child under penalty of law. Failure to comply will result in your child being removed and placed for Adoption.

• The State if it is deemed necessary may administer any Drug, Medical Test, Psychological Test, May Interview or carry out a Physical Examination including “Strip-Seaching” any Child at any time without the knowledge or permission of the Parent and without the Parents present. The Examinations may be carried out by certain members of the State without a Medical Qualification. Failure to comply will result in your child being removed and placed for Adoption.

• Children in State Care whether short or long-term no longer have the Right to speak to members of the Media under any circumstances. Parents have not had this Right under the In-Camera Rule in Family Law Proceedings.

• Under the UNCRC all Irish Laws regarding Children are subject to their interpretation within the framework of the UNCRC, the UNCRC supercedes all other laws. This is subject to change at any time and will be decided by the UNCRC Committee without prior consultation of any of the 192 Countries who have ratified it.

• Children of any age can consent to Sterilization: If a psychiatrist decides that a child (under 18 years) has sufficient maturity, he or she will be able to consent to sterilisation. Parental consent will not be needed. Only after the sterilisation procedure has been performed does it have to be reported and then only to the Chief Psychiatrist. This is permissible under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Mental Disability, (UNCRPMD). Ireland is signatory to this legislation but were unable to ratify it until Article 42, the Rights of Parents to determine for their children, was repealed.

• Children aged 12 years old will be able to consent to Psychosurgery:  psychosurgery irreversibly damages the brain by surgery, burning or inserting electrodes.  Parental consent is also not needed to approve the psychosurgery. This will be possible when the UNCRPMD is ratified however the State may decide this if deemed in the best interests of the child.

• Children aged 12 years can consent to Electro-Shock Therapy regardless of the wishes of the parent. Electroshock is hundreds of volts of electricity to the head. Any child aged 12 and over, whom a child and adolescent psychiatrist decides is “mature” enough, will be able to consent to electroshock.

• Involuntary Commitment of Children: A psychiatrist can involuntarily detain any child for up to 14 days if “suspected” of mental illness. Parents will not be able to discharge their child during this period and take them home. The psychiatrist can then make a “continuation order” to continue the detainment for up to 3 months and thereafter for each subsequent 3 month period. During detainment, the child could be drugged, restrained, secluded, given electroshock if over 12 and could be put into a ward with adults. Parental consent is not required to continue the detainment or for any treatment, including the child being placed on a legal order to continue to receive drugs at home.