Seanad debates

Wednesday, 18 June 2003

European Convention on Human Rights Bill 2001: Second Stage.

 

The courts are under a duty to administer justice in accordance with the law and the Constitution. Furthermore, as the convention is primarily a vertically effective instrument – by which I mean that it is designed as a means for redressing human rights violations between the individual and the State – the inclusion of the courts could result in their being drawn into its development as a horizontally effective means of resolving rights-based disputes between individuals. I do not want to create a new set of actionable torts consisting of breach of convention rights as between individuals, nor do I want to see a development whereby people, under sections 3(1) and 3(2), would be able to sue the courts in respect of court decisions. I have stated clearly that I am not interested in that kind of experimentation and that I will not go down that road.

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