Politics – cearta.ie

Article 31.1 of the Constitution provides that there “shall be a Council of State to aid and counsel the President on all matters on which the President may consult the said Council …”. The image, left, is a painting of the Council of State hanging in the Council of State Room in Áras an Uachtaráin, the President’s official residence. One matter on which the President must consult the Council of State is provided by Article 26.1.1:

The President may, after consultation with the Council of State, refer any Bill to which this Article applies to the Supreme Court for a decision on the question as to whether such Bill or any specified provision or provisions of such Bill is or are repugnant to this Constitution or to any provision thereof.

On foot of this power, President Higgins convened a meeting of the Council of State to consider whether to refer the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Bill 2013 to the Supreme Court under Article 26; and that meeting is due to begin right about now (see: Irish Examiner here, here, and here | Irish Independent here and here | Irish Times here, here, and here | RTÉ | TheJournal.ie…

Chief Justice argues creation of new court of appeal essential – The Irish Times

3 March, 201210 July, 2013

| No Comments

| Irish Court of Appeal, Irish Law, Irish Society, Politics

From the Irish Times:

Unlike its counterparts in the common law world, Ireland does not have an intermediate appeal court, leading to a situation where the Supreme Court was overwhelmed by the volume coming from the High Court. The creation of a court of appeal was promised in the programme for government, she said.

For my previous posts, see here, here and here.…

Do clothes maketh the man?

13 July, 20117 November, 2012

| 4 Comments

| Freedom of Expression, Irish Society, Politics

According to the Adages of Erasmus, ‘vestes virum facit‘, which is often rendered in English as ‘clothes maketh the man’. Two different stories in today’s Irish Times brought this adage to mind. In the first, a picture tells a thousand words:

Nicolas Dupont-Aignan in l'Assemblé National

The photo is by Gonzalo Fuentes via Reuters and Yahoo. It shows French deputy Nicolas Dupont-Aignan covering his face with a scarf in the colours of the French flag to protest at the denial of speaking time to independent deputies during a debate about Libya at l’Assemblée Nationale in Paris yesterday. It demonstrates that what deputies wear in parliament can be as important as what they say. Sometimes, the sartorial expression is obvious, as where a slogan on a t-shirt makes the point. Sometimes, it’s a little more subtle, but all the more effective, as the photo above of Dupont-Aignan demonstrates. And sometimes, even a deputy’s normal everyday wear makes the point: in Ireland, Mick Wallace TD habitually wears a casual pink shirt. Like some other independent TDs, he dresses casually to make a point against unnecessary conformity and stuffiness; and he dresses in pink as “a challenge to the sad macho element in Irish society”.…

Report of the Working Group on a Court of Appeal

10 August, 200910 July, 2013

| 1 Comment

| Irish Court of Appeal, Irish Court of Appeal, Irish Law, Irish Society, judges, Politics

I’ve written about this report twice already. The first occasion was when a committee chaired by Ms Justice Susan Denham of the Supreme Court was established to consider the necessity for a new Irish Court of Appeal (this was in part a response to an article on the point which Judge Denham had written the previous year in the [2006] 1 Judicial Institute Studies Journal 1 (pdf)). The second occasion when the Government received the committee’s report. In the most recent installment of this slow-moving story, the report was published last week – only three months after it was submitted to government – and to generally favourable reviews in the media (see Belfast Telegraph | Irish Independent here and here | Irish Times | RTÉ). …

Plans for an Irish Court of Appeal?

5 June, 200910 July, 2013

| 5 Comments

| Irish Court of Appeal, Irish Court of Appeal, Irish Law, Irish Society, judges, Politics

Some time ago, in a similarly titled post, I discussed the establishment of a committee chaired by Ms Justice Susan Denham of the Supreme Court which was to consider the necessity for a possible new Court of Appeal. I thought it a good idea then, and still do now. According to Carol Coulter in today’s Irish Times, the Government has just received the committee’s report:

Logjam in Supreme Court appeals not serving justice

ANALYSIS: Too few judges hearing appeals and a recent proliferation of lay litigants means judgment delays of years, writes Carol Coulter

… the need for a Court of Civil Appeal to hear most appeals from the High Court, leaving the Supreme Court to deal with constitutional cases and those involving fundamental points of law, … arises from the increasing volume of cases going to the Supreme Court, resulting in lengthy delays. There can be up to three years’ delay in a case appealed from the High Court getting a hearing in the Supreme Court.

…

Is DC v Heller a Roe v Wade for our times?

8 September, 200826 June, 2016

| 5 Comments

| Law, Politics, US Supreme Court

Every citizen should be a soldier. This was the case with the Greeks and Romans, and must be that of every free state.

For a people who are free, and who mean to remain so, a well-organized and armed militia is their best security.

Thomas Jefferson

In 1972, the Supreme Court of the United States decided Roe v Wade 410 US 113 (1973) (Findlaw | Justicia | Oyez | wikipedia), which held the Due Process Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment to the US Constitution protects the (penumbral) right to privacy, including a woman’s qualified right to terminate her pregnancy. It was a controversial decision which demonstrated that the Court was at the vanguard of the dominant public political mood. The Court was sharply divided; the case was decided on the basis of contestable constitutional theory; and it has subsequently given rise to a huge amount of analysis and scholarship, as well as much partisan social commentary and political scheming.

In 2008, the Supreme Court of the United States decided US v Heller 554 US __ (2008) (official pdf | Findlaw report) (Balkinization | Mike O’Shea on Concurring Opinions | NRA | Posner | ScotusWiki | Volokh | Wikipedia), which held that the Second Amendment to the US Constitution protects an individual right to possess a firearm unconnected with service in a militia, and to use that arm for traditionally lawful purposes, such as self-defense within the home.…

A footnote to Election 2007

29 April, 200710 December, 2012

| 10 Comments

| Defamation, Election 2007, Politics, Press Council, Privacy

Now that An Taoiseach (the Prime Minister) has put us out of our misery and finally called the long-awaited general election, all Bills currently pending will fall with the outgoing DÃ¡il (Lower House). Of those of particular interest to this blog, this means that the Defamation Bill, 2006 (Department of Justice | Oireachtas (pdf)) and the Privacy Bill, 2006 (Department of Justice | Oireachtas (pdf)) now both fall too, and their fate will have to await the pleasure of the incoming government in the next DÃ¡il.

The fate of the Defamation Bill, in particular, raises an interesting question for the press industry. The Bill provided for the recognition of a Press Council; the press industry has advanced with the establishment of an Office of the Press Ombudsman and the Press Council of Ireland in parallel with the passage of the Bill through the Houses of the Oireachtas (Parliament); and they will now have to decide whether to continue with this process now that the Bill has fallen. They could of course keep their powder dry until after the election, in the hope that the incoming government revives the Bill, and then press on with the formation of the Ombudsman and Council.…