The Four Courts in Dublin.

The Supreme Court (Irish: Cúirt Uachtarach) is the highest judicial authority in the Republic of Ireland. The Supreme Court is a court of final appeal and exercises, in conjunction with the High Court, judicial review over Acts of the Oireachtas (Irish parliament). The Court also has jurisdiction to ensure compliance with the Irish constitution by governmental bodies and private citizens. The Court sits in the Four Courts in Dublin. image of Dublins main court building. ... image of Dublins main court building. ... The High Court (Irish: An Ard-Chúirt) of the Republic of Ireland is a court which deals at first instance with the most serious and important civil and criminal cases, and also acts as a court of appeal for civil cases in the Circuit Court. ... Judicial review is the power of a court to review a law or an official act of a government employee or agent for constitutionality or for the violation of basic principles of justice. ... The Republic of Ireland has a common law legal system with four main sources of law: Constitution of Ireland (Bunreacht na hÉireann) Legislation Primary Legislation - Acts of the Oireachtas Secondary Legislation - Statutory Instrument Case law European Community Law Historical The state became independent in 1922 as the Irish Free... The Constitution of Ireland is the founding legal document of the state known today as the Republic of Ireland. ... The Four Courts (Na Ceithre Cúirteanna in Irish) in Dublin is the Republic of Irelands main courts building. ... WGS-84 (GPS) Coordinates: 53. ...

Composition

The Supreme Court consists of its president called the Chief Justice, the President of the High Court who is an ex officio member of the court and normally sits in the High Court, and at least seven ordinary members^[1]. The Supreme Court sits in divisions of three, five or seven judges. Two or more divisions may sit at the same time. When determining whether the President is permanently incapacitated within the meaning of Article 12 of the constitution, ruling on the constitutionality of a bill referred to it by the President under Article 26, or ruling on the constitutionality of any law the court must consist of at least five members^[2]. Chief Justice John L. Murray is the current Chief Justice of Ireland. ... The High Court (Irish: An Ard-Chúirt) of the Republic of Ireland is a court which deals at first instance with the most serious and important civil and criminal cases, and also acts as a court of appeal for civil cases in the Circuit Court. ...

Judges of the Supreme Court are appointed by the President in accordance with the binding advice of the Government (cabinet), who, since 1995, act in turn on the non-binding advice of a judicial advisory board^[3]. Official Seal of the President of Ireland Mary McAleese, the current President of Ireland. ... In constitutional law, Advice is formal, usually binding instruction given by a constitutional officer of state to another. ...

Current membership (21 November 2006)

• The Chief Justice The Hon. Mr Justice John L. Murray
• The Hon. Mrs. Justice Susan Denham
• The Hon. Mr. Justice Adrian Hardiman
• The Hon. Mr. Justice Hugh Geoghegan
• The Hon. Mr. Justice Niall Fennelly
• The Hon. Mr. Justice Nicholas Kearns
• The Hon. Ms. Justice Fidelma Macken
• The Hon. Mr. Justice Joseph Finnegan (appointed to the Supreme Court in November 2006)

At a meeting of the Government on 21 November, Mr Justice Finnegan was nominated to ordinary membership of the Supreme Court, and Mr Justice Richard Johnston was nominated to the office of President of the High Court. These appointments, to fill the vacancy created by the retirement of Mr Justice Brian McCracken, will take effect upon appointment by the President of Ireland. It is believed that the vacancy created by the retirement of Mrs Justice Catherine McGuinness on 13 November 2006 will be filled by the Government, although there is no requirement to do so.-1... The Honourable Mr Justice Adrian Hardiman, (born 1951) has been a justice of the Supreme Court of Ireland since February 7, 2000. ... This article or section is not written in the formal tone expected of an encyclopedia article. ... The Honourable Justice Fidelma OKelly Macken (born 1945) is a justice of the Supreme Court of Ireland since 2005. ... The Honourable Mr. ... The Honourable Mr. ... Mr Justice Brian McCracken was born in Cork on July 13, 1934. ... Official Seal of the President of Ireland Mary McAleese, the current President of Ireland. ... Mrs Justice Catherine McGuinness, a Judge of the Supreme Court of Ireland and President of the Law Reform Commission [1], was born in Belfast in November 1934 and educated in Belfast and Dublin (Alexandra College, Trinity College Dublin and the Kings Inns). ...

Jurisdiction

The Supreme Court hears appeals from the High Court, the Court of Criminal Appeal and the Courts-Martial Appeal Court. The Court's power to hear appeals can be severely restricted (as it is from the Court of Criminal Appeal and the Courts-Martial Appeal Court) or excluded altogether, with the exception of appeals concerning the consistency of a law with the constitution. The Supreme Court also hears points of law referred to it from the Circuit Court. In practice cases before the Supreme Court are virtually always heard on points of law only.

Judicial review

The Supreme Court exercises, in conjunction with the High Court, the power to strike down laws which are inconsistent with the constitution. The courts also grant injunctions against public bodies, private bodies and citizens to ensure compliance with the constitution. The Irish constitution explicitly provides for the judicial review of legislation. Acts passed after the coming into force of the constitution, are invalid if "repugnant" to the constitution (Article 15.4.2°), while laws in force prior to the coming into force of the constitution are invalid if "inconsistent" with the constitution (Article 50.1). The constitution also provides, under Article 26, for the judicial review of bills before they are (or would have been) signed into law. The power to refer bills is personally exercised by the President after consulting the Council of State. When the Supreme Court upholds the constitutionality of a bill referred to it under Article 26, its constitutionality can never again be questioned in any court whatsoever (Article 34.3.3°). Judicial review is the power of a court to review a law or an official act of a government employee or agent for constitutionality or for the violation of basic principles of justice. ... The Council of State (Irish: Comhairle Stáit) is an organ established by the Constitution of Ireland to advise the President of Ireland in the exercise of many of his or her discretionary, reserve powers. ...

Supreme Court judges are normally free to deliver their own judgements, whether dissenting and concurring. However when considering the constitutionality of an Act or Bill passed after the coming into force of the constitution, only a single judgement may be delivered by the Court (Articles 34.4.5° and 26.2.2°). Dissenting and concurring are allowed for considering the constitutionality of an Act passed before the coming into force of the constitution (Article 50)^[4].

Jurisprudence

After a slow start in its first two decades of the Constitution, the Supreme Court has expounded a significant constitutional jurisprudence. This slow start was partly because, prior to 1922, the whole of Ireland was a part of the United Kingdom, and Supreme Court judges had been trained in British jurisprudence, which stresses the sovereignty of parliament and deference to the legislature. Nonetheless from the 1960s onwards the Court has made a number of significant decisions. It has, for example: Parliamentary sovereignty, parliamentary supremacy, or legislative supremacy is a concept in constitutional law that applies to some parliamentary democracies. ... A legislature is a type of representative deliberative assembly with the power to adopt laws. ...

• Developed a doctrine of unenumerated rights (not entirely unlike its American namesake) based on an expansive reading of Article 40.3.1°, with elements of natural law and liberal democratic theory.
• Developed and defended the separation of powers.
• Ruled that major changes to the treaties establishing the European Union may not be ratified by the state unless allowed by a previously passed constitutional amendment.
• Ruled that Articles 2 and 3 (as they stood before 1999) did not impose obligations upon the state that were enforceable in a court of law.
• Discovered a broad right to privacy in marital affairs implicit in Article 41.
• Discovered a right to an abortion where there is a risk to the life of the mother through suicide in Article 40.3.3°.
• Imported the doctrine of proportionality into Irish law.

... The separation of powers (or trias politica, a term coined by French political Enlightenment thinker Montesquieu) is a model for the governance of democratic states. ... Article 2 and Article 3 of Bunreacht na hÉireann, the constitution of the Republic of Ireland, were adopted with the constitution as a whole in 1937, but completely revised by means of the Nineteenth Amendment which took full effect in 1999. ... Within law, the principle of proportionality is used to describe the idea that the punishment of a certain crime should be in proportion to the severity of the crime itself. ...

Significant rulings

• 1950 - Buckley v. The Attorney General (right to property)
• 1965 - Ryan v. The Attorney General (doctrine of unenumerated rights)
• 1966 - The State (Nicolaou) v. An Bord Uchtála (constitutional family only that based on marriage)
• 1971 - Byrne v. Ireland (unconstitutionality of state immunity in tort)
• 1974 - McGee v. The Attorney General (marital privacy and contraceptives)
• 1976 - de Búrca v. The Attorney General (equality)
• 1979 - East Donegal Co-operative v. The Attorney General (natural justice)
• 1983 - Norris v. The Attorney General (criminalisation of homosexuality upheld)^[5]
• 1987 - Crotty v. An Taoiseach (ratification of European Union treaties)
• 1988 - Attorney General (Society for the Protection of the Unborn Child) v. Open Door Counseling (information relating to abortion)
• 1988 - Webb v. Ireland (non-survival of crown prerogatives)
• 1989 - Kennedy v. Ireland (right to privacy)
• 1992 - Attorney General v. X, more commonly the "X case" (abortion and risk of suicide)
• 1993 - Attorney General v. Hamilton (separation of powers)
• 1993 - Meagher v. The Minister for Agriculture (European Communities Act)
• 1994 - Hearney v. Ireland (doctrine of proportionality)
• 1995 - Re the Regulation of Information (Services outside the State for Termination of Pregnancies) Bill (supremacy of written constitution)
• 1995 - Re a Ward of court (right to die)
• 1995 - McKenna v. An Taoiseach (referendum campaign finance)
• 2001 - Sinnott v. Minister for Education (limitations on right to education)
• 2003 - Osayande v. Minister for Justice (deportation of the parents of citizens)
• 2006 - Curtin v. Dáil Éireann (removal of judges)
• 2006 - A. v. The Governor of Arbour Hill Prison (unconstitutionality of a law does not retrospectively invalidate all actions taken under it)

Natural justice is a legal philosophy used in some jurisdictions in the determination of just, or fair, processes in legal proceedings. ... Crotty v. ... Attorney General v. ... Within law, the principle of proportionality is used to describe the idea that the punishment of a certain crime should be in proportion to the severity of the crime itself. ...

Sharing of sovereignty

Today the Supreme Court shares its authority with two supra-national courts: the European Court of Justice (ECJ) and the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR). In matters relating to the correct interpretation of European Union law, decisions of the ECJ take precedence over those of the Irish Supreme Court. The relationship between the Irish Courts and the ECHR is more complicated as the European Convention on Human Rights only enjoys interpretative, sub-constitutional status in the Republic. Acts of the Oireachtas, when possible, are to be interpreted in line with the Convention, but the Convention must give way both to clear legislative intent and to any countermanding requirement of the Constitution; and convention provisions cannot be relied upon as separate causes of action. Official emblem of the European Court of Justice The Court of Justice of the European Communities, usually called the European Court of Justice (ECJ), is the highest court of the European Union (EU). ... European Court of Human Rights building in Strasbourg The European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), often referred to informally as the Strasbourg Court, was created to systematise the hearing of human rights complaints against States Parties to the Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, adopted by... The European Union is unique among international organisations in having a complex and highly developed system of internal law which has direct effect within the legal systems of its member states. ... The Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, also known as the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), was adopted under the auspices of the Council of Europe[1] in 1950 to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms. ...

Supreme Court decisions cannot be appealed, as such, to either court. The ECJ hears cases referred to it by the Irish Courts by way of case stated and while unsuccessful litigants before the Supreme Court can apply to the ECHR, the latter court's decision does not have the effect of voiding the Supreme Court's decision. Decisions of the ECHR do not automatically override Irish law and may require legislation or perhaps even a constitutional referendum to be implemented in full.

Notes

1. ^ . See Section 6 of the Courts and Court Officers Act, 1995.
2. ^ See s.7 of the Courts (Supplemental Provisions) Act, 1961.
3. ^ See the Courts and Court Officers Act, 1995
4. ^ For example dissenting opinions were given in Norris v. The Attorney General, concerning the constitutionality of ss. 61 and 62 of the Offences Against the Person Act, 1861, whereas only a single judgement was given in Buckley v. The Attorney General, concerning the constitutionality of the Sinn Féin Funds Act, 1947. See Kelly and The State (Sheerin) v. Kennedy.
5. ^ Ireland was subsequently judged to be in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights in Norris v. Ireland. Homosexuality was legalised in the Republic by the Criminal law (Sexual Offences) Act, 1993.

The Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms, also known as the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR), was adopted under the auspices of the Council of Europe[1] in 1950 to protect human rights and fundamental freedoms. ...

References

• J.M. Kelly, The Irish Constitution 4th edn. by Gerard Hogan and Gerard Whyte (2002) IBSN 1854758950

See also

• Supreme court
• Judiciary
• History of the Republic of Ireland
• Abortion in Ireland

The supreme court in some countries, provinces, and states, functions as a court of last resort whose rulings cannot be challenged. ... The Politics series Politics Portal This box:      In law, the judiciary or judicial is the system of courts which administer justice in the name of the sovereign or state, a mechanism for the resolution of disputes. ... The state known today as the Republic of Ireland came into being when twenty-six of the counties of Ireland seceded from the United Kingdom (UK) in 1922. ... Abortion in Ireland has had a controversial history and remains a disputed subject today. ...

External links

• Irish Courts Service
• Supreme Court of Ireland Decisions — from the British and Irish Legal Information Institute

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