Council of Europe told Ireland continues to fail to deliver justice to victims of abuse in Irish schools
Today, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (‘the Commission’), represented by Commissioner Noeline Blackwell, presented a briefing at the Council of Europe on the ongoing failure by Ireland to fully implement the
O’Keeffe v. Ireland judgment, which was delivered by the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) 10 years ago.
This briefing was hosted by the European Implementation Network (‘EIN’), based in Strasbourg, who also arranged for Louise O’Keeffe to attend and speak to delegates. EIN advocates for the full and timely implementation of judgments of the European Court of Human Rights and facilitates engagement with the Council of Europe’s structures.
At this exceptional hearing, consisting of Permanent Representations of the Council of Europe, Commissioner Noeline Blackwell briefed delegates on the State’s failure to implement this judgment. She advocated again for the Committee of Ministers to increase its supervision of the implementation of the
O’Keeffe judgment (to what is known as the ‘enhanced’ supervision procedure)*.
Louise O’Keeffe also presented. In 2014, after years of litigation, Louise successfully took Ireland to the ECtHR for failing to protect her from the abuse she suffered at a primary school in the 1970s in West Cork.
However, despite numerous apologies to victims, the State continues to fail to implement the 2014
O’Keeffe v Ireland judgment appropriately. The Commission is of the view that the lack of coherence in the State’s approach to survivors of sexual abuse in schools shows a discriminatory and arbitrary approach to survivors.
Currently, as domestic law stands, the Supreme Court’s decision in
O’Keeffe v. Hickey [2009] remains the law in Ireland today and, accordingly, the State is not vicariously liable for historical child sexual abuse suffered in schools. In addition, any survivors who seek to institute proceedings in respect of historical sexual abuse today would face significant difficulties in establishing that their claim is not statute-barred.
In light of the persistent failure to implement the
O’Keeffe v. Ireland judgment we have made several
Rule 9 Communications to the Committee of Ministers*, regarding our concerns on the enforcement of the O’Keeffe Ruling.
Commissioner Noeline Blackwell said:
“For the ECtHR process to have any credibility, both in Ireland and Europe, in light of Ireland’s persistent failure to implement the judgment, it is crucial that this case is urgently transferred to enhanced supervision, if victims’ rights are to be vindicated.
“The practical effect of the consistently narrow and illogical position adopted by the Government in response to this case has been to deprive people who suffered sexual abuse as children within the national primary and post primary school system of an effective remedy. Ten years on, that deprivation of justice is cruelly intensified as victims grow older, with some having no hope of receiving justice or closure.”
ENDS/
For further information, please contact:
Sarah Clarkin, IHREC Communications Manager,
01 8592641 / 087 4687760
sarah.clarkin@ihrec.ie
Notes to Editors:
* Enhanced supervision is intended to allow the Committee of Ministers to closely follow progress of the execution of a case, and to facilitate exchanges with the national authorities supporting execution.
** A Rule 9 Communication is a mechanism that allows National Human Rights Institutions (NHRIs) to submit communications to the Committee of Minsters regarding the execution of judgments.
*** The Committee of Ministers is the decision-making body of the
Council of Europe and is composed of the Ministers for Foreign Affairs of the 46 member States of the Council of Europe (or their Permanent Representatives in Strasbourg). The Committee of Ministers' essential function is to ensure that member states comply with the judgments of the European Court of Human Rights.
Link to the Rule 9 submissions here:
Communication to Council of Europe Committee of Ministers from the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission in the case of O’Keeffe v. Ireland (Application No. 35810/09), May 2024
