Seanad debates
Thursday, 19 June 2003
European Convention on Human Rights Bill 2001: Committee Stage.
The point has been made that we are somehow out of step with the United Kingdom whose courts are included in the definition of "public authority" and caught by the requirement to act in a convention compatible way. There is an important difference between our two jurisdictions. Members of the judiciary in the United Kingdom are bound by an oath to the sovereign power of parliament and obliged to do whatever parliament instructs. The courts here are bound by a written constitution to uphold the Constitution and laws.
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