The Irish Human Rights Commission was today granted leave to appear before the Supreme Court as a ‘friend of the court’ in the proceedings entitled Carmody v The Minster for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Ireland and The Attorney General. The proceedings involve an examination of the extent to which the criminal legal aid scheme should provide an accused person with the same level of representation as is available to the prosecution in the case.
At its plenary meeting of 22 September 2005, the Commission decided to apply to the Supreme Court seeking liberty to appear in the proceedings before it and the Commission’s application was granted by the Court today. The Commission’s appearance in the proceedings will be directed towards drawing both constitutional and international human rights principles to the attention of the Court.
Welcoming the decision of the Court, the President of the Commission, Dr. Maurice Manning, stated: "This is the third time the Commission has sought and been granted liberty to appear before the Superior Courts as amicus curiae or ‘friend of the court’ and the Commission welcomes the Supreme Court’s decision today to allow it to appear. The Human Rights Commission Act, 2000, provides the statutory basis for the Commission so appearing, with the leave of the Court, in a case involving human rights issues and our role is primarily to be of assistance to the Court and to draw relevant human rights principles to its attention."
“This case raises important issues regarding the principle of ‘equality of arms’ in criminal trials" stated Dr. Alpha Connelly, Chief Executive of the Irish Human Rights Commission. "It also addresses the inter-connection between the rights guaranteed under the Constitution and those guaranteed under the European Convention on Human Rights."
The full text of the Commission’s written submissions will be made available on the Commission’s website www.ihrc.ie in due course.
A spokesperson is available for comment.
For further information, please contact:
Mary Ruddy
Senior Human Rights Awareness Officer
Irish Human Rights Commission
Jervis House
Jervis Street
Dublin 1.
Tel. 01 8589 601
E-mail: info@ihrc.ie
Website : http://www.ihrc.ie
Note for Editor
Under section 8(h) of the Human Rights Commission Act, 2000, the Commission may, at the discretion of the High Court or the Supreme Court, appear as amicus curiae in proceedings that involve or are concerned with the human rights of any person.
Section 2 of the Human Rights Commission Act, 2000 defines "human rights" to include those rights conferred on or guaranteed to persons under the Constitution and under any agreement, treaty or convention to which the State is a party.
The Commission first appeared as amicus curiae before the Supreme Court in April 2005 in the case of Dublin City Council v Fennell which involved issues regarding the interpretation and effect of the European Convention on Human Rights Act. The Supreme Court delivered its Judgment on 12 May 2005 and ruled that the Act did not have retrospective effect.
The Commission was also granted liberty to appear as amicus curiae before the High Court in June 2005. Those proceedings, entitled Lawrence and others v Ballina Town Council and others involve an examination of provisions of the Housing (Miscellaneous) Provisions Act, 2002 (the criminal trespass legislation) and other related matters including the extent to which local authorities may be obliged to provide appropriate accommodation to Traveller families. That case has yet to be heard.
It is expected that the current case will be heard by the Supreme Court in 2006.