Press release, for immediate release
Thursday 16 June 2011
Ireland’s independent human rights watchdog, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) has expressed dismay that the Government has chosen to mark its 100th day in office by releasing an “inaction plan” on the implementation of a judgment of the European Court of Human Rights.
In an “action plan” released today (16 June 2011) on the website of the Department of Health (http://www.dohc.ie/press/releases/2011/20110616.html), the Government recalls that the Court’s judgment in the case of A, B and C v Ireland (judgment of 16 December 2010) found that national law on abortion in Ireland is not sufficiently clear and precise, contrary to Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
However, the “action plan” proposes to address this by establishing a new “expert group” which will not even meet until the end of the year.
Mr Mark Kelly, Director of the ICCL, said:
“The Irish Council for Civil Liberties is dismayed that the Government has chosen to mark its 100th day in office by releasing an “inaction plan” on the implementation of a judgment which finds that Ireland is in violation of the European Convention on Human Rights. Taking 100 days to decide to establish an expert group by Christmas is evidence of inertia, not of action.”
“We will be writing to the Execution of Judgments Department of the Council of Europe’s Directorate General of Human Rights to express our concerns, and to ensure that this attempt to place the implementation of this judgment on the long finger does not succeed” Mr Kelly added.
Notes to editors:
In its judgment of 16 December 2010 in the case of A, B and C v Ireland the European Court of Human Rights found that Ireland’s abortion regime fails to give women the Constitutional rights to which they are entitled. The judgment is available at: http://cmiskp.echr.coe.int/tkp197/view.asp?item=1&portal=hbkm&action=html&highlight=Ireland%20|%2025579&sessionid=72336337&skin=hudoc-en
In the case of a woman who had not been able to establish whether or not she qualified for a lawful abortion in Ireland, the Court found that Ireland failed to respect her private life in violation of Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The long-standing failure of the Irish authorities to give proper legislative effect to Article 40.3.3 of the Irish Constitution as interpreted by the Supreme Court in the X case, was condemned by the Strasbourg Court’s judgment in the case of A, B and C v Ireland.
In a lengthy and finely-balanced judgment, the Court found that the lack of effective and accessible procedures to establish a right to an abortion under Article 40.3.3, “has resulted in a striking discordance between the theoretical right to a lawful abortion in Ireland on grounds of a relevant risk to a woman’s life and the reality of its practical implementation”.