Michael McNamara (Clare, Independent) | Oireachtas source

I support the Minister of State’s stance on Poland and the importance of rule of law. However, in advance of criticising the rule of law Poland, on which I share the views of the Minister of State, we need to reflect a little on the rule of law in Ireland. There are a couple of issues I would like to bring to the Minister of State's attention. First, the failure to properly promulgate in a timely manner the statutory instruments on restrictions for Covid-19 has been repeatedly criticised in this Chamber, as well as by legal academics and human rights activists. Today is 20 October and the new regime is to come into place on 22 October. People are supposed to act accordingly, yet no law or regulations have been promulgated and we have no idea when they will be promulgated. It will probably be some time on 22 October, after they have theoretically come into effect. That is not rule of law. One of the central tenets of rule of law is that people can ascertain what the law is and behave accordingly. That needs to be addressed.

The second issue I will raise relates to the challenges brought to the previous regulations in courts. The regulations had lapsed by the time the court got to hear the challenge and the court stated it did not have sufficient resources to hear it. That is an absence of an effective remedy, which again is a huge problem. The exact same regulation was brought in subsequently, even though it could not be challenged previously. Again, access to an effective remedy is a central tenet of the rule of law.

The third issue I draw to the Minister of State's attention is the O'Keeffe judgment against Ireland in the European Court of Human Rights. ECHR judgments are not enforceable, or cannot be relied upon, in the domestic legal order in the same way that judgments by the Court of Justice of the European Union, CJEU, can. Nevertheless, there is an expectation that human rights violations will be remedied, not just for the applicants in a particular case but more broadly. That has not yet happened in this case. We need to look at that. I would hate for the Minister of State to go over there and speak about the rule of law in Poland and to be labelled a hypocrite while he is there. It would be embarrassing for Ireland, which has a proud tradition of adherence to the rule of law, democracy and human rights.

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