Seanad debates

Thursday, 15 May 2003

Adjournment Matter. - Morris Tribunal.

 

The Morris tribunal is a tribunal of inquiry, not a court of law. It is inquisitorial, not adversarial. The onus to establish the facts and inquire into the matters in question falls on the tribunal. Senator Higgins referred to constitutional rights to equality and the demands of the Constitution in this regard. The Constitution is being upheld in respect of every approach I am adopting. I reject the suggestion that I am, in some sense, acting contrary to its spirit or that I am in breach of anybody's constitutional rights. If constitutional rights existed entitling Mr. McBrearty to the relief referred to by the Senator, he would have been accorded them by the courts because the courts accord people their constitutional rights.

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