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O ' K eeffe v I reland : The Liability of States for Failure to Provide an Effective System for the Detection and Prevention of Child Sexual Abuse in Education
Author(s) -
Gallen James
Publication year - 2015
Publication title -
the modern law review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.37
H-Index - 22
eISSN - 1468-2230
pISSN - 0026-7961
DOI - 10.1111/1468-2230.12110
Subject(s) - vicarious liability , jurisprudence , liability , tort , convention , law , state (computer science) , political science , sexual assault , business , poison control , medicine , suicide prevention , environmental health , algorithm , computer science
In O ' K eeffe v I reland , the G rand C hamber of the E uropean C ourt of H uman R ights found that I reland failed to protect the applicant from sexual abuse suffered as a child in an I rish N ational School in 1973 and violated her rights under Article 3 (prohibition of inhuman and degrading treatment) and Article 13 (right to an effective remedy) of the E uropean C onvention on H uman R ights. This note argues that the decision is important in expanding the C ourt's jurisprudence regarding positive obligations under Article 3 to child sexual abuse in a non‐state setting where there was no knowledge of a ‘real and immediate’ risk to the applicant. It also argues that the case raises concerns about the C ourt's methodology for the historical application of the Convention and about the interaction of Article 3 positive obligations with vicarious liability in common law tort regimes.