The Criminal Justice (Engagement of Children in Criminal Activity) Bill 2023 will, for the first time, create specific offences where an adult compels, coerces, induces or invites a child to engage in criminal activity.
The new offence will be a separate, prosecutable offence on top of the provisions in current law where an adult who causes or uses a child to commit a crime can generally be found guilty as the principal offender.
“This legislation will send a strong message to communities that grooming children into criminal activity is not acceptable and can be tackled, and I hope to enact it by the summer recess,” justice minister Simon Harris said.
A similar law, known as “Fagin’s law”, was introduced in Victoria, Australia in 2017. There have been calls for Ireland to introduce a similar offence as far back as 2016.
The legislation has also been informed by the Greentown Project, which is being implemented by the University of Limerick in partnership with the Department of Justice and the Department of Children, Equality, Disability, Integration and Youth.
The aim of the project is to investigate the involvement of children in criminality and to establish interventions to tackle the problem. The Greentown Report showed that criminal networks in many areas operate coercive control over young children.
