Constitution 'must be judges' anchor'

CAROL COULTER

A JUDGE must ground his rulings on his own national constitution, according to Chief Justice John Murray. However, a judge can be illuminated or inspired by the work of other constitutional courts, he said.

Mr Justice Murray was speaking at a conference on Protecting Economic, Social and Cultural Rights in Ireland , jointly organised by the Law Society and the Irish Human Rights Commission. It was also addressed by Navanethem Pillay, UN high commissioner for human rights, and Prof William Binchy of Trinity College Dublin and the IHRC.

“There is a whole raft of ways whereby constitutional courts become conscious of the decisions of other constitutional courts whose conceptual ideas address the same values and issues that arise in all democratic societies,” Mr Justice Murray said. “There is an increased cross-fertilisation in the judicial and constitutional sphere. But a national judge has to be conscious it is his own constitution he is interpreting. He acts as a filter, and he can be illuminated or inspired in his reasoning, but his decision must be anchored in his own constitution.”

Ms Pillay told the conference that economic, social and cultural rights should no longer be seen as the Cinderella of human rights.

“They are an expanding and promising field, which should be followed with consistent international and national attention, including legal protection.”

She said this required the involvement of national human rights institutions, civil society and international organisations.

“We need to learn from best practices . . . we also need periodic reporting and accountability to the international human rights system,” she said.

The content of economic, social and cultural rights gives some guidance about priorities that need to be taken into account in the formulation of policies that are human-rights compliant, she said.

“Thus, human-rights compatible health policies should give priority to ensuring universal coverage of the health services, with a view of including vulnerable and marginalised groups, instead of expanding the range of treatments and facilities for those who already benefit from health services.

“National human rights institutions can play a crucial role in monitoring compliance with the spirit and letter of public policies,” she said.