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Project Director:
Professor William Schabas
Researcher:
Ms. Aisling O'Sullivan
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This research divides into three principal subjects with the initial section, focusing on the negotiation on the European Convention of Human Rights, and the second section, focusing on Lawless v. Ireland, already completed. The final section, focusing on Ireland v. United Kingdom is nearing completion, and includes collection of material in the Public Records Office in Kew, London.
This research provided the basis for a paper entitled Ireland, the European Convention on Human Rights and the personal contribution of Sean MacBride accepted for publication in a forthcoming book by John Morison, Kieran McEvoy and Gordon Anthony (ed.) entitled Human Rights, Democracy and Transition: Essays in honour of Stephen Livingstone (Oxford, Oxford University Press 2006).
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"(A) Convention on Human rights which did not grant any right of redress to individuals was not worth the paper it was written on." Seán MacBride, Minister for External Affairs at the Fifth Session of the Committee of Ministers (August 1950) |
Lawless’ landmark case, alleging the violation of Article 5, 6 and 7 of the European Convention of Human Rights as a result of the Fianna Fáil Government’s policy of internment in response to the IRA Border campaign (1956-62), became the first application by an individual against their State of nationality to reach the newly constituted European Court of Human Rights, the first international tribunal competent to apply international human rights law.
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"The court exists only to serve the cause of justice" The final statement of Justice Rene Cassin, President of the European Court of Human Rights, after reading the first judgement delivered by the Court in the case of Lawless v. Ireland. |
Submitting the application to the European Commission of Human Rights on the 16th December 1971 constituted one of the most important foreign policy decisions an Irish Government has taken in its Anglo-Irish relations. The application charged the British government with having breach Article 3 of the ECHR with its administrative practices in implementing the policy of internment in Northern Ireland. The preparation of the evidence for the case involved communication with civil society, representatives of victims and public representatives. The proceedings lasted until 18th January 1978, when the European Court of Human Rights, delivered its judgment.
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"No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment." Article 3—Prohibition of Torture, European Convention of Human Rights |
In conjunction with the Archives of the European Court of Human Rights, the Project is amassing the numerous applications during this period which, the European Commission ultimately decided, were inadmissible. The objective is to analyze the type of applications made against Ireland, indicating the extent of understanding of the European Institutions potential among the Irish legal profession and general public and to assess if some or all of the applications would today have been deemed admissible.