Seanad debates
Wednesday, 18 June 2003
European Convention on Human Rights Bill 2001: Second Stage.
This is a very far-reaching provision and goes much further than the equivalent provision in the United Kingdom. It gives to the High Court and the Circuit Court jurisdiction, in accordance with the levels of damages that those two courts have at present for torts, to award compensation to anybody who claims that any organ of the State, as defined in the Act, has infringed his or her rights under the Constitution. It provides for what could be described as a new tort, and the level of compensation envisaged is not what I would term convention-related compensation which, in accordance with the provisions of Article 41 of the convention, is not regarded as being overly generous.
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