Category: Irish Constitution

Original Family Provisions Article 41 of the Constitution recognises the family as the natural and primary unit/group of society.  It guarantees to protect the family in its Constitution and authority.  The protection is limited to the family based on marriage.  The Article further provides that the State pledges to guard with special care the institution […]

Constituional Guarntee Article 42 of the Constitution which refers to education is focused on the parents’, right to educate their children. Article 42.4 guarantees free primary education. It provides that the State shall provide for free primary education and shall endeavor to supplement and give reasonable aid to private and corporate educational initiative and when […]

The Constitution and Religion The preamble to the Constitution has an explicitly Christian basis, which has been deployed in the interpretation of the Constitution. It is said to underpin the  Christian nature of the State and has been used to justify the introduction of Christian principles and precepts into the judicial review of laws under […]

Constitutional Guarantees Article 40.3.2 of the Constitution reads that “The State shall, by its laws protect as best it may from unjust attack and, in the case of injustice done, vindicate the life of… every citizen”. The right to life is expressly protected in many of the key international human rights instruments. The so-called right […]

Limits on Right to Associate Murtagh  Property v. Cleary, a policy or general rule which seeks to prevent an employer from employing men or women on the ground of sex only was held to be prohibited by the Constitution. Picketing aimed at achieving unconstitutional discrimination was restrained. It constituted a breach of the right to […]

Bodily Integrity The right to bodily integrity was recognised in the seminal, Ryan v. Attorney General case. This case confirmed the existence of so-called unenumerated rights in the Constitution. In the Ryan case, the right to bodily integrity meant that no mutilation of the body or any of its members may be carried out on […]

Participation in Democratic Process The right to participate in politics and public affairs is a fundamental feature of democracy. The integrity of the political process is fundamental to democracy. The Constitution includes provisions that seek to maintain equality and structure in the political process and election. See the section on the referenda in relation to […]

Directive Principles of Social Policy The so-called directive principles of public policy are not recognised as a basis for holding legislation invalid. However, account may be taken of them in interpreting the Constitution. Article 45.2 provides: the State, in particular, shall direct its policy towards securing: that, especially the operation of free competition shall not […]

Children’s Rights Guarantee Article 42 A provides that the State recognises and affirms and imprescriptible rights of all children and shall insofar as practicable by its laws protect and vindicate those rights.  In exceptional circumstances, where parents, regardless of their marital status, fail in their duty towards their children to such an extent that safety […]

Constitutional Protection of Family Under the Constitution, the family as a moral institution enjoys certain liberties and is in particular,  protected from undue interference with the State. The State may intervene in exceptional circumstances in the interests of the common good or where parents have failed for physical or moral reasons in their duty to […]

The Equality Guarantee Article 40.1 of the Constitution provides: that “all citizens shall, as human persons, be held equal before the law. This shall not be held to mean that the State shall not in its enactments have due regard to differences of capacity, physical or moral, and of social function”. Titles of nobility shall […]

Constitutional Protections In Blake v. Attorney General, the Supreme Court held that Article 43 protects the institution of property and property in the broader sense. This would include the elements of the institution including the rights of transfer, bequest, inheritance and enjoyment of property. Other aspects of state interference with property are covered by Article […]

Forfeiture A range of legislation allows for forfeiture of the proceeds of crime, articles involved in crime or the assets of persons involved in crime. They have been held not to be in the nature of criminal proceedings, but to be civil proceedings. Accordingly, the provisions applicable to criminal proceedings do not apply. Generally, the […]

Invoking Emergency War shall not be declared, and the State shall not participate in the war save with the assent of Dail Eireann. In the case of actual invasion, however, the Government may take whatever steps may be considered necessary for the protection of the State. Dáil Eireann, if not sitting, shall be summoned to […]

Free Speech Many constitutions and human rights instruments recognise the right to free speech. Free speech and the ability to communicate thoughts and ideas is upheld as one of the most precious rights of man. It is fundamental to the democratic nature of the State. Under Article 40.6.1: the State guarantees liberty for the exercise, […]

Arrest Article 40.4.1 provides that no citizen shall be deprived of his liberty, save in accordance with law. A person may be arrested if he is suspected of an offence, for the purpose of procuring his attendance at court and, subject to conditions and limits, for the investigation of more serious offences. It is not clear, […]