Brian Lenihan Jnr (Dublin West, Fianna Fail)

Ireland has signed and ratified Protocol No. 13, as the Senator pointed out, which abolishes the death penalty in all cases. Protocol No. 6 to the convention, which is in the Schedule to the Bill, also makes provision for the abolition of the death penalty, but in Article 2 it permits states to make provision for it in time of war or imminent threat of war. We have amended the Constitution to remove the possible use of the death penalty in times of emergency. We are now a totally abolitionist State in the context of the death penalty. This has paved the way for us to accept, as a matter of international obligation, Protocol No. 13. It is reasonable to ask why Protocol No. 13 cannot be brought within the ambit of the Bill.

Protocol No. 13 is not yet in force and our advice from the Minister for Foreign Affairs is that it will not come into force until 1 August next. We anticipate that the Bill will have been enacted before that date and it is not the practice to include prospective provisions in legislation. In any event, the inclusion of Protocol No. 13 in the Bill would have no effect, a point with which the Senator agrees. However, he seeks to ensure consistency between the constitutional and statutory provisions. The Constitution, as the superior law, has already dealt with this matter. Therefore, the matter is unstateable in Irish law in any event.

Given the constitutional provisions, the repetition in a statute would be superfluous. That said, I understand the Senator's intention, but it is not the practice to include prospective provisions in legislation. I assume that we are not supposed to play God with what might happen in the next few months.