Bloomsbury Professional Ireland and the European Convention on Human Rights: 60 Years and Beyond

The book 2013 marks the 60th anniversary of Ireland's ratification of the European Convention on Human Rights and the 10th anniversary of the Convention's incorporation into domestic law, by means of the ECHR Act 2003. It contains a wealth of essays and articles by leading experts which examine Ireland's engagement with the European Convention on Human Rights at international level down through the years as well as the extent to which the case law of the European Court of Human Rights has influenced domestic human rights law and administrative action through the vehicle of the 2003 Act. It analyses current Strasbourg jurisprudence on key issues and project its likely implications on law and policy in the Contracting States, with particular reference to Irish domestic law. The book addresses the difficult questions that arise for judges in both jurisdictions following the constitutionalisation of the European Union's Charter of Fundamental Rights in 2009 and the revised agreement of the EU's accession to the ECHR. The impact of the ECHR in Irish law is a particularly rich subject for analysis, given the strong tradition of rights review by the Irish judiciary in interpreting the fundamental rights guarantees in the Irish Constitution. While the Irish statute is superficially similar to the Human Rights Act in the United Kingdom, the context in which it operates is radically different, given the pre-eminent role of the Irish Constitution in shaping domestic human rights law. As well as outlining the specific domestic context in which the ECHR operates in Ireland, the book also includes comparative insights from the United Kingdom context as to the impact of the Human Rights Act to date in that jurisdiction. Additional themes of the book include the development of ECHR jurisprudence and its effects in the domestic setting on asylum, immigration, criminal justice, children, mental health patients, gender recognition and the limits and potential of the ECHR as regards combating poverty. Contents: Part I Implementing the ECHR in Ireland: Past, Present and Future Chapter 1: Introduction Chapter 2: From Judgment to Compliance: Domestic Implementation of the Judgments of the Strasbourg Court Chapter 3: Neither Herald nor Fanfare: The Limited Impact of the ECHR Act 2003 on Rights Infrastructure in Ireland Chapter 4: Maximising the Potential of the European Convention on Human Rights Act 2003: The Interpretative Obligation and the Importance of Framing Chapter 5: The Constitution and the Convention: Happily Married or a Loveless Co-existence? Chapter 6: The UK s 1998 Human Rights Act: Clarity and Confusion Chapter 7: Two-Speed Rights Protection? Comparing the Impact of EU Human Rights Law and ECHR Law in Irish Courts Part II The Convention in the Private Sphere Chapter 8: Introduction Chapter 9: The Convention in the Private Sphere: A Noteworthy Achievement Chapter 10: Children, Direct Provision and the European Convention on Human Rights Chapter 11: Challenging Deportation on the Basis of Private Life : The Evolving Impact of Article 8 on Irish Immigration Law Chapter 12: Article 8 and the Realisation of the Right to Legal Gender Recognition Part III The ECHR, Socio-Economic Disadvantage and Access to Justice Chapter 13: Introduction Chapter 14: The European Convention on Human Rights: A Socio-Economic Rights Charter? Chapter 15: Public Interest Litigation in Ireland and the European Convention on Human Rights Act 2003 Chapter 16: Access to Justice for Migrants in Ireland In Compliance with the ECHR? Chapter 17: Convention Rights in Police Custody: Standard-Bearer or Lowest Common Denominator? Appendix 1: Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms Appendix 2: European Convention on Human Rights Act 2003 Index