O'Donoghue to introduce human rights legislation

The Minister for Justice has said that he would be introducing legislation to incorporate the European Convention on Human Rights within the next month. John O'Donoghue said that the law should be in place before the summer. The Minister was speaking at a Law Society conference on Human Rights. Ireland is obliged to incorporate the Convention under the terms of the Good Friday Agreement.

The Minister said that the new law would have particular effect in the area of administrative acts by public bodies such as health boards and local authorities. He said that in other European states individuals had been successful in challenging the actions of such bodies where they have not been treated fairly. Claimants should be able to get damages in the Irish courts for breaches of such rights.

However, it is still unclear how to address the problem of giving damages to someone whose rights have been infringed by a law, which conforms with the Irish Constitution but breaches the Convention. The Attorney General, Michael McDowell, said that the Government was considering a system of ex gratia payments for such persons, which would avoid forcing them to go to Strasbourg for redress.