The Gazette 1972

The Courts-custodians of citizens rights

and tributes due tb Irish kings. Its contents underlined that the Declaration of Rights of Man and of the Citizen, made in France in 1789 was still far in the future. But 1789 had been a very significant year, and it could never be forgotten that Article 2 of that declara- tion asserted: " The purpose of civil associations is the preservation of the natural and imprescriptible rights of man. These rights are liberty, property, resistance to oppression." The American Bill of Rights of 1791 (the first ten Amendments) had been, with some limitations, *a prac- tical application of the French Declaration and of profound influence for good. But it had taken the experience of the second World War and of all that connoted, to awaken the world to the need to proclaim and to safeguard human rights. Human rights The last 25 years had seen the publication by the U.N. and the Council of Europe, of a number of decla- rations and conventions of human rights, which were of the highest importance, he went on. The Chief Justice mentioned the International Bill of Human Rights, and noted the European counterparts. Firstly, the European Convention of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, "which is in effect, if unfortunately not also in form, part of our law Of great significance, there were the institutions of Strasbourg, the Commission of Court of Human Rights, to ensure enforcement. There was also the European Social Charter of 1961, and the Chief Justice stressed its importance. He said that the human rights situation in a given country was composed of native elements, some of which were not matters of law. and the Constitution could be only one of the elements in the situation. He suggested that, in its second edition, the associa- tion's handbook might glance at the important field of social right. For instance the Social Welfare Act. 1952, had introduced the point about independent deciding officers which was a great advance in civil law. Among those who attended the launching of the booklet were Professor Denis Donoghuc. Professor W. R. Stanford, and Professor Geoffrey Hand, dean of Faculty of Law, U.C.D. Irish Times.

IT WAS the function of the ordinary courts to determine whether or not rights had been infringed and. where there had been an infringement, what protection was to be afforded, said the Chief Justicc. Cearbhall O Dalaigh, in Dublin. He was introducing a booklet. " Your Rights as an Irish Citizen," published by the Irish Association of Civil Liberty. The courts were the keystone in any structure of citizens' rights—they were the bulwark of those rights, the Chief Justice said. The court's judges took an oath to uphold the Constitution and the law, were indepen- dent in the exercise of their functions, sat in public and were irremovable except by the Oircachtas, and then only for stated misbehaviour. The Chief Justicc outlined the development of inter- national conventions and declarations on human rights, and mentioned that there were several important proto- cols to the European Convention of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms—particularly the 1st and 4th Protocols—that Ireland had not yet given effect to. Of the booklet, he said there was no presumption that every man must be taken to know the law. A modest judge, Mr. Justice Maule, had once said that it would be contrary to commonsense and reason if this were so. But there was the rule that ignorance of the law did not excuse. "And," he continued, "in both of these circumstances—the absence of the presumption and the existence of the rule—we have more than sufficient reason to be grateful to the Irish Association of Civil Liberty for compiling and publshing this booklet." The booklet filled a need, he added, in 1938 Mr. Justice Gavan Duffy had compiled a Constitutional catechism. Rights and duties It was important that citizens should know their rights, and what were the limitations on those rights; and to inform the citizens of their rights and limitations, was a contribution to the peace and happiness of the community. Anyone who underlined rights had to be careful not to neglect to call attention to the corresponding duties, the Chief Justice stated. It could be said that the association had been careful to emphasise that one of the citizens principal obligations was to obey the law. He referred to a 12th century Irish compilation, Leabhar na gCeart, which was a record of the rights

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