The Children and Family Relationships Act 2015 (Act No. 9 of 2015,
bill
Bill(s) may refer to:
Common meanings
* Banknote, paper cash (especially in the United States)
* Bill (law), a proposed law put before a legislature
* Invoice, commercial document issued by a seller to a buyer
* Bill, a bird or animal's beak
Plac ...
no. 14 of 2015) amended
family law
Family law (also called matrimonial law or the law of domestic relations) is an area of the law that deals with family matters and domestic relations.
Overview
Subjects that commonly fall under a nation's body of family law include:
* Marriage ...
in Ireland to extend
parent
A parent is a caregiver of the offspring in their own species. In humans, a parent is the caretaker of a child (where "child" refers to offspring, not necessarily age). A ''biological parent'' is a person whose gamete resulted in a child, a male t ...
al rights and responsibilities to non-traditional families. It simplifies
adoption rights for the
spouse or
civil partner of a
biological parent
A parent is a caregiver of the offspring in their own species. In humans, a parent is the caretaker of a child (where "child" refers to offspring, not necessarily age). A ''biological parent'' is a person whose gamete resulted in a child, a male ...
, and for a long-term
domestic partner
A domestic partnership is a legal relationship, usually between couples, who live together and share a common domestic life, but are not married (to each other or to anyone else). People in domestic partnerships receive benefits that guarantee ...
. It also addresses
donor-assisted reproduction (
sperm donation
Sperm donation is the provision by a man of his sperm with the intention that it be used in the artificial insemination or other 'fertility treatment' of a woman or women who are not his sexual partners in order that they may become pregnant by h ...
and
egg donation
Egg donation is the process by which a woman donates eggs to enable another woman to conceive as part of an assisted reproduction treatment or for biomedical research. For assisted reproduction purposes, egg donation typically involves in vitro ...
).
Background
Official reports related to the subject of the bill include the 2005 report of the Commission on Assisted Human Reproduction, and the 2010 report of the
Law Reform Commission
A law commission, law reform commission, or law revision commission is an independent body set up by a government to conduct law reform; that is, to consider the state of laws in a jurisdiction and make recommendations or proposals for legal chang ...
, which included a draft "children and parental responsibility bill". The
provided for same-sex civil partnerships, and for shared rights within non-marital relationships, without addressing the issue of children within those relationships. The
government elected in 2011 introduced the
Thirty-first Amendment of the Constitution, relating to
children's rights
Children's rights are a subset of human rights with particular attention to the rights of special protection and care afforded to minors. , which was approved at referendum in 2012 but not
signed into law
A bill is proposed legislation under consideration by a legislature. A bill does not become law until it is passed by the legislature as well as, in most cases, approved by the executive. Once a bill has been enacted into law, it is called an '' ...
until 28 April 2015 because of a legal challenge to the conduct of the government during the referendum.
Legislature
The general scheme of the Children and Family Relationships Bill was published for consultation in January 2014 by
Alan Shatter, the then
Minister for Justice and Equality, and discussed by the
Oireachtas Joint Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality in April 2014. The bill was
introduced in
Dáil Éireann on 17 February 2015 by Shatter's successor as minister,
Frances Fitzgerald. The government had planned to have the bill enacted before the
same-sex marriage referendum in May 2015, so that the issue of adoption by same-sex couples would not be used by opponents of same-sex marriage in the referendum campaign. Fitzgerald distinguished the family bill from the amendment bill at a seminar organised by the Children’s Rights Alliance. The bill was approved by the Dáil on 12 March. It passed the Seanad on 30 March, in a 20-2 vote and was signed into law by President Michael D. Higgins on 6 April 2015. All provisions of the act did not come into legal effect.
Senator
Jim Walsh resigned from the
Fianna Fáil
Fianna Fáil (, ; meaning 'Soldiers of Destiny' or 'Warriors of Fál'), officially Fianna Fáil – The Republican Party ( ga, audio=ga-Fianna Fáil.ogg, Fianna Fáil – An Páirtí Poblachtánach), is a conservative and Christia ...
parliamentary party over its support for the bill.
Commencement
* 1 July 2015: The Children and Family Relationships Act 2015 (Part 10) (Commencement) Order 2015 commenced; specifying that Part 10 of the Act in its entirety commences.
* 18 January 2016: The Children and Family Relationships Act 2015 (Commencement of Certain Provisions) Order 2016 commenced; specifying provisions of Parts 1, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 12 and 13 of the Act.
* 4 May 2020: Children and Family Relationships Act 2015 (Parts 2 and 3) (Commencement) Order 2019 commenced; Parts 2 and 3.
* 4 May 2020: Children and Family Relationships Act 2015 (Commencement of Certain Provisions) Order 2019 commenced; Parts 4, 6, 7 and 12, insofar as it is not already in operation, and section 176.
Amendment
Portions of the Act allowing for joint adoption, which never went into effect as no commencement order was signed, were repealed in 2017 after passage of the Adoption (Amendment) Act 2017, which legalised joint adoption by same-sex couples. Drafting errors in the Act were amended before they were commenced by the Children and Family Relationships (Amendment) Act 2018.
Public opinion
An opinion poll published in March 2015 indicated strong public support for some of the central provisions of the Bill, namely adoption rights for same-sex and cohabiting couples. Support in both cases was measured at over 70%
Family Values: 54% would be willing to help a relative die
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References
Sources
*
Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015
(links to debates and amendments) Oireachtas
Citations
{{reflist
2015 in Irish law
Acts of the Oireachtas of the 2010s
Family law in the Republic of Ireland