Ireland
ENTRY INTO FORCE of the European Convention on Human Rights
3 September 1953
Number of implemented cases*
26
Examples
Landmark judgment leads to change in abortion law
C., a cancer survivor, was unable to find out whether her pregnancy posed a risk to her life. The European court ruled that Ireland’s lack of an accessible and effective process by which C. could have established whether she qualified for a lawful abortion breached her human rights. The judgment led to Ireland changing the law on abortion.
Ireland
Legal aid system introduced after woman suffering from domestic violence was unable to access the courts
Mrs Airey wanted to be legally separated from her husband, who was allegedly a violent alcoholic. However, there was no legal aid and she could not afford the lawyers’ fees. The European Court of Human Rights ruled that the lack of legal aid effectively denied Mrs Airey access to a court, breaching her basic rights. Legal aid for such cases was introduced in Ireland in the following year.
Man’s struggle leads to the legalisation of homosexuality in Ireland
David Norris suffered from anxiety attacks and depression after realising that any open expression of his homosexuality could lead to a criminal prosecution. The European court ruled that the criminalisation of his sexuality breached his basic rights. In 1993, this led to the full legalisation of homosexual acts between consenting adults under Irish law.
Reforms made after a child was unable to be legally recognised as her father’s daughter
Nessa Williams-Johnston could not be legally recognised as her father’s daughter because he had previously been married to someone other than her mother. After the European court ruled in the family’s favour, new legislation was passed to give children in Nessa’s position proper legal status.
* This figure includes all judgments and decisions from the European Court of Human Rights (including friendly settlements) concerning which the Council of Europe’s Committee of Ministers has decided that all necessary follow-up measures have been taken. Source: the database of the Department for the Execution of Judgments of the ECHR, HUDOC-EXEC.