Brendan Ryan (Labour)

I return to one argument used by the Minister of State. The issue he raised about suing the courts could be dealt with by, among other things, the procedure that Senator Norris suggested. The other argument being used is that the convention is "a vertically effective instrument designed as a means of redressing human rights violations between the individual and the State."

I raise the question of Article 4 of the convention. Does a victim of slavery sue the State? What would the State have done wrong? It may not have known about the act of slavery. As far as I am concerned, this means that if I am in a condition of slavery and certitude and I am a citizen of a party to the convention, I am entitled to sue the person who subjects me to servitude or slavery. The Minister of State does not want the courts to be drawn into a development as a horizontally effective means of resolving rights-based disputes between individuals. The issue of slavery is a rights-based dispute between individuals, not between an individual and the State. I would like the Minister of State to address that point before I indicate what I propose to do about the amendment.