The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission (the ‘Commission’) recently appeared as amicus curiae (friend of the court) in the Supreme Court appeal in the case of DPP v. Dowling.
The appeal concerned the criminal prosecution of Mr Dowling for trespass at a restricted area at Shannon airport and the availability of the defences of necessity and lawful excuse in cases of “direct action”.
The Commission provided to the Supreme Court written and oral submissions on the Constitutional and ECHR rights engaged in a criminal trial related to “direct action”. The Commission’s written submissions provided an analysis of the case law in this area from the European Court of Human Rights and from England, the US and Canada.