New Legislation Expected To Address Reporting Restrictions In Child Murder Cases

Cabinet Ministers will consider legislation this morning to allow the names of children who have been murdered to be published.

A court of appeal ruling on the Children's Act has led to reporting restrictions in recent months on a number of high profile cases.
Several politicians have put forward legislation to amend the original act and the cabinet is expected to support a bill from Senator Michael McDowell with some amendments.
The amendments would also allow the accused to be named in a child murder or manslaughter case and allow the names of adults who had been victims of a crime as a child to be published.