We have a system in which our courts interpret the law and they do so subject to one overriding rule, namely, that every organ of the State, including the Oireachtas, is bound to uphold the Constitution. While the people are free to amend the Constitution through referendum, the bodies with the ultimate right to decide what it means are the High Court and the Supreme Court on appeal. Nobody else's interpretation of the Constitution is valid or coercive as a matter of law. Neither House of the Oireachtas can direct the courts to interpret laws by reference to the decisions of a third party, such as the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg.