Seanad debates
Wednesday, 18 June 2003
European Convention on Human Rights Bill 2001: Second Stage.
I wish to refer to another point which has been raised with me on that matter. If, for example, somebody is sentenced to a term of imprisonment under a law which has been found to be in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights, what recourse is there for the appellant? This is a practical and serious matter in that somebody could be jailed, which could have happened to me. Under the previous Acts, which I managed to impugn successfully in Strasbourg, I could have been sent to jail in this jurisdiction despite the fact that these laws had already been identified as a serious breach of human rights. Under this legislation, if this happens in the future to another citizen, he or she will have no remedy in that the only remedy of any use would be to obtain an order from the court for release of the prisoner. That is another classic example of the tantalising situation where a wrong has been determined against a citizen but no proper remedy has been found for the appellant by the State.
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