Brendan Ryan (Labour)

Much that the Minister of State said reflects what I said yesterday in respect of the considerable pride this country should take in its early ratification of the idea of extraterritorial jurisdiction for an international institution. I agree with him in that regard.

Our commitment to human rights dates back further and, as I have said on many occasions, is manifest in the much-maligned 1937 Constitution, which people must always remember was written at a time when human rights were far from fashionable. As such, it is extraordinarily progressive. However, if some organ of the State interferes with a citizen's right to make an individual petition to the European Court of Human Rights, that person has no domestic remedy. The provision that judicial notice shall be taken of the convention provisions in section 4 refers to the convention as defined in section 1, which specifically excludes Articles 34 and 46. This means that judicial notice does not have to be taken of the individual's right to make a petition. Therefore, the only place a person can get redress, if the right to make an individual petition is interfered with, is through the European Court of Human Rights.