The Irish Human Rights Commission (IHRC) is to appear as amicus curiae (friend of the court) in the case of European Court of Human Rights case Magee v Ireland which concerns the refusal of legal aid for inquest proceedings to the mother of a man who died in Garda Custody in 2002.
The plaintiff instituted proceedings in the Irish High court against the Coroner, the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Ireland and the Attorney General claiming that their failure to provide legal representation funded by the public purse was an infringement of her constitutional rights under the European Convention on Human Rights.
During the course of proceedings, Mrs Magee applied for a number or reliefs some of which included an order requesting the provision of legal aid with respect to the inquest and the High Court held that fair procedures subject to Article 38 of the Constitution required that legal aid be provided to Mrs Magee. However, on appeal to the Supreme Court, the High Court order was overruled after which the plaintiff made an application to the European Court of Human Rights of which the IHRC is appearing as amicus curiae.
This is the second time that the IHRC have appeared as amicus curiae before the European Court of Human Rights in addition to making joint submissions in two other cases on behalf of the European Group of National Human Rights Institutions. Its previous intervention was in the case of O’Keefe v Ireland. The first of its joint submissions was in the case of DD v Lithuania which concerned social care housing of the mentally handicapped. The second was in the case Gauer v France where the submission related to the protection of women and girls with an intellectual disability from intrusive procedures such as sterilisation with reference to the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities.
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