Press release, for immediate release
Dublin, Tuesday 8 January 2013
Tomorrow morning (Wednesday, 9 January 2013 at 11.45am), the Oireachtas Joint Committee on Health and Children will receive expert legal guidance from the Irish Council for Civil Liberties Association (ICCL) to assist it to shape Ireland’s new abortion law.
The new law is required to meet Ireland’s legally binding obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights.
Abortion has been lawful in Ireland since 1992, but in its December 2010 judgment in the case of A, B and C v Ireland, the European Court of Human Rights found there was 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.” The Strasbourg Court found that Ireland had violated Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights by failing to provide a woman whose life was at risk with a procedure to access a lawful termination of her pregnancy.
Practicing barrister, academic and author Dr. Alan D.P. Brady, a member of the ICCL’s Executive Committee, will tell the Joint Committee that:
“Ireland is legally obliged under Article 46 of the European Convention on Human Rights expeditiously to implement judgments against it by the Strasbourg Court. The analysis contained in the Report of the Government’s Expert Group on the judgment in A, B and C v Ireland, chaired by Mr. Justice Sean Ryan, indicates that the most compelling way to implement this judgment is by legislation (including repeal and replacement of sections 58 and 59 of the Offences Against the Person Act 1861) coupled with regulations.”
“The Government must now, at an absolute bare minimum, introduce abortion legislation and regulations, including in relation to the issue of suicidal ideation. This is no longer a matter for debate”, Dr. Brady will say.
In his opening statement, Dr. Brady will also emphasise that the State’s obligations in relation to abortion under the European Convention on Human Rights run deeper than merely implementing the judgment in A, B and C.
He will tell the Joint Committee that:
“The most recent case law from the Strasbourg Court on the issue of reproductive rights indicates that Council of Europe states are obliged to ensure that women seeking lawful terminations are not exposed to inhuman and degrading treatment contrary to Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.”
“Applying this principle in an Irish context, it seems clear to the ICCL that the current treatment of women with pregnancies involving a defined set of fatal foetal abnormalities (i.e. where it is clear that carrying a foetus to term will not result in a viable life) potentially falls foul of Article 3 of the Convention.”
“Provision could feasibly be made in Ireland’s new abortion law for the termination of pregnancies involving fatal foetal abnormalities without violating the current text of Article 40.3.3° of the Constitution”, Dr. Brady will conclude.
Tomorrow’s legal expert hearings will follow a full day of medical expert hearings. The Joint Committee is expected to conclude its work on Thursday 10 January 2013 by hearing from people professing a number of religious faiths (and none), as well as from various campaigners supporting and opposing abortion law reform.
The full text of the ICCL’s Opening Statement tomorrow (Wed 9 January 2013) to the Joint Committee on Health and Children is available to download on the ICCL website HERE..
For further information contact:
Walter Jayawardene
Communications Manager
Irish Council for Civil Liberties
9-13 Blackhall Place
Dublin 7
Ireland
Tel. + 353 1 799 4503
Mob: +353 87 9981574
Fax. + 353 1 799 4512
E-mail walter.jayawardene@iccl.ie
Web www.iccl.ie