|
Human Rights in the Irish Context
Ireland
is a party to the European Convention on Human Rights (the
provisions of which have been incorporated into Irish law), the
Statute of the International Criminal Court, and a number of other
international agreements.
The
more widely known of these international agreements/treaties
include:
- The
International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights
- The
International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights
- The
International Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of
Racial Discrimination
- The
Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination
Against Women
- The
Convention Against Torture and Other Cruel, Inhuman or Degrading
Treatment or Punishment
- The
Convention on the Rights of the Child
- The
Convention relating to the Status of Refugees
Various
Council of Europe agreements are also binding upon the State. These
include:
- The
Revised European Social Charter
- The
European Convention for the Prevention of Torture and Inhuman or
- Degrading
Treatment and Punishment, and
- The
Framework Convention for the Protection of National Minorities
- As
a member of the European Union, Ireland is also increasingly
affected by the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European
Union.
A deeper
and more detailed understanding of human
rights in this context may be gained from the Human Rights
Commission Acts, the Constitution of Ireland and relevant
international agreements. (If you would like more information about
these, please contact The Human Rights Commission for Ireland for
more www.ihrc.ie).
The
seven treaties above are agreements that the Irish state have
accepted. Unlike the UN Declaration of Human Rights, these treaties
are legally binding and by accepting them, the Irish government is
obliged to promote and protect Human Rights at the national level.
These
Treaties are monitored by panels of experts (known as Treaty Bodies)
and the Irish government must regularly report back to them
regarding how well the treaty provisions have been implemented since
their last report. Some of the treaty bodies also have other
functions and also accept complaints from individuals stating the
government has not upheld their rights (more details of this can be
found under the other area - What
to do if you feel your rights have been violated, where to complain
and how to make a case.).
|
