The new Human Rights Commission has said it will not be afraid to ask tough questions of those in authority as it seeks to protect the human rights of everyone in the State.
At the launch of its first strategic plan, Promoting and Protecting Human Rights in Ireland: A Plan for 2003-2006, the Commission criticised the emergency powers legislation brought in following the terror attacks on 11 September 2001 in the US.
Professor Fionnuala Ní Aoláin, Human Rights Commissioner, also said today that the Commission would be happy with nothing less than an independent Garda Ombudsman as an outcome of the Garda Complaints Mechanism currently under review.
The Commission has the power to conduct enquiries into issues connected with the protection of human rights and the power to act as amicus curiae, or friend of the court.
Therefore the Commission can bring to the court's attention, in an unbiased way, to legal principles relevant to the case. These powers have never been used in Ireland.
Describing their role as 'the Government's conscience', Professor Ní Aoláin said that if the Commission had been operating earlier it could have considered acting as a friend of the Court in cases such as the Sinnott case or the recent Supreme Court case involving the non-national parents of Irish children.
President of the Commission, Dr Maurice Manning, said, 'Where we believe that human rights are not being protected, we will say so clearly and strongly, and we will actively seek change in law, policy or practice in such cases.'
He said that over the coming weeks, for example, the Commission would make considered comments on Ireland's position on Iraq, the proposed Freedom of Information amendments and the proposed Criminal Trespass legislation.
The Commission, set up under the Good Friday Agreement, has 11 key functions:
Keeping law and practice under review;
Reviewing legislative proposals on request;
Consulting with national and international bodies to ensure best practice;
Making recommendations to Government;
Promoting awareness of human rights;
Undertaking research and educational activities;
Conducting enquiries;
Publishing research;
Acting as amicus curiae or friend of the court;
Participating in the Joint Committee (representative of HRC's in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland);
Providing legal and other assistance in instituting legal proceedings.
