The Irish Human Rights Commission (IHRC) recently made a written submission to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR) in the case of O'Keeffe v Ireland - the body's first intervention at that level in a case concerning Ireland. The case relates to an individual, Louise O'Keeffe, who suffered sexual abuse by her primary school principal. The Applicant brought civil proceedings against the Irish State for compensation (claiming the State was vicariously liable for her abuse), but lost both cases in the Irish High Court and Supreme Court. The Applicant is now appealing to the ECtHR to determine whether, among other claims, the State failed to protect her from being subjected to inhuman or degrading treatment in breach of Article 3 of the European Convention on Human Rights.
The IHRC's submissions "comment on the structure of the Irish education system; the relevant domestic law and practice in relation to education and child protection; the vindication of Constitutional rights; the status of the Convention in the domestic legal order and the issue of delay." On the issue of the status of the ECHR in domestic Irish law, the submissions note that "[w]hile the Constitution recognises the rights to bodily integrity, privacy and primary education, all of which rights may be regarded in substance as having a counterpart in Articles 3, 8, 13 and Article 2 of Protocol 1 of the ECHR, the question arises as to whether domestic law (the Constitution, as supplemented by the law of tort [the area of law under which the domestic cases were decided]) provides an adequate remedy for a breach of ECHR rights."
Click here to view the press release from the IHRC.
Click here to read the IHRC's submission to the ECtHR and here to read the Statement of Facts issued by the court in August.