Amicus Curiae or Friend of the Court
Under Section 8(h) of the Human Rights Commission Act 2000, the Irish Human Rights Commission (IHRC) can offer its expertise in human rights law to the High Court or the Supreme Court in suitable cases involving human rights issues. In such cases, the IHRC acts as an amicus curiae or 'friend of the court' and is a neutral third party in the case.
The IHRC has developed guidelines to assist it in considering whether to ask the court's permission to appear in a particular case.
Since 2005, the IHRC has been granted liberty to appear as amicus curiae in an increasing number of cases before the High Court and Supreme Court. These cases have addressed a wide variety of human rights concerns including criminal legal aid, accommodation of Traveller families and the criminal trespass legislation, data protection, refugee determination, local authority housing, criminal insanity, prosecution for entry to the State and imprisonment for civil debt. In some of these cases, the Courts have struck down legislation as being unconstitutional or have found that there has been a breach of the European Convention on Human Rights Act 2003 (ECHR Act).
In addition, the IHRC, in its capacity as Chair of the European Group of National Human Rights Institutions monitors recently communicated cases from the European Court of Human Rights and has intervened in a case concerning intellectual disability; the first such intervention by a regional grouping of national human rights institutions.
Cases in which the IHRC has appeared as Amicus Curiae or 'friend of the Court'
The IHRC has appeared in a range of cases as amicus curiae before the High Court and the Supreme Court including:
- data protection
- criminal legal aid
- civil debt
- summary evictions from local authority housing
- refugee determination
- criminal trespass legislation
- intellectual disability
- non-national parents of Irish born children
- non-identification as a criminal offence
- criminal law insanity legislation
- deportation of parents and siblings of Irish children
- sex abuse of a child
- medical treatment in psychiatric institution
- Fitness to plead
The IHRC has adopted Guidelines to assist it in deciding on the cases in which it should seek liberty to appear.
The IHRC has made a unique application on behalf of the European Group of National Human Rights Institutions to appear as amicus curiae in a case about rights of a person with intellectual disabilities.
Due to funding cuts to the IHRC's Budget in 2008-09, its ongoing participation in proceedings relies heavily on the goodwill of Counsel who are willing to act pro bono for the IHRC.
The IHRC sincerely thanks all those counsel who have provided their services for free, thus allowing the IHRC to perform its statutory functions.