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

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.