THE IRISH COUNCIL for Civil Liberties has submitted a report to the Council of Europe in which it criticises the EU Affairs junior minister Lucinda Creighton for what it describes as her “intransigence” to a European court ruling.
The report singles out Creighton for her response to the European Court of Human Rights ruling on A, B and C versus Ireland – in which the court criticised Ireland for failing to implement sufficient legislation to clarify the circumstances under which an abortion might be carried out.
Creighton had told the Irish Times last month that legislating on the issue of abortion “should not be a priority for this Government” and that her “preference would just be not to deal with this issue right now”.
This morning ICCL director Mark Kelly said he wanted the Council of Europe – a 47-member body, separate to the EU, dedicated to human rights and the rule of law – to be aware of this attitude, ahead of the release of the report from James Reilly’s expert group on the ruling.
“We wish the Committee of Ministers to be fully aware of the background of religious conservatism and political intransigence into which the report of the expert group on the implementation of this important judgment will be released,” Kelly said.
It is unconscionable for the Minister of State with Special Responsibility for European Affairs to imply that the implementation of a judgment of Europe’s Supreme Court is anything less than an urgent priority for the Government”
Kelly said ECHR rulings were legally binding and there was a requirement among members states to implement its findings “in a speedy and effective way”.
The report has been submitted to the Council of Europe’s ‘Committee of Ministers‘, the body of the continent’s 47 foreign ministers.
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