Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

As Senator Norris is only too well aware, litigants face difficulties in all legal proceedings. This Bill is drafted in such a way as to at least give clarity to litigants as to the precise status of the convention in Irish law. The provision in the Bill of a right of action for damages is an innovation and is not provided for in the equivalent United Kingdom legislation.

Senators asked about the practice in other states. Practices vary depending on the view other states have taken on the incorporation of international law into their domestic legal systems. Those states which subscribe to what is called the monist view of a total assimilation of international and domestic law naturally tend to favour the direct application of the convention in their municipal legal systems. This State has always subscribed to the dualist view in international law, namely, that no international arrangement is part of the law of the State unless it is so decided by the Oireachtas, the people's representatives.