The Government is defending a case brought against it in the European Court of Human Rights by a woman who claims that her inability to obtain an abortion in the Republic was a breach of her human rights.
The woman, who is being called D for the purposes of the case, has initiated her action at the court in Strasbourg.
A Government spokesman said yesterday the case was at a very early stage, and it may not be heard for well over a year.
He said the Government was defending the case because it believed there was no conflict between the State's constitutional ban on abortion except in the case of a threat to a woman's life and the European Convention on Human Rights, which does not refer to abortion.
While the Government would not give any further details of the case, it was reported yesterday in the Sunday Times that the woman involved, D, became pregnant with twins.
One of these died in the womb and the second was found to suffer abnormalities. Abortion being illegal in the Republic unless there is a threat to the woman's life, including a threat of suicide, the woman had an abortion in Britain.
Her case is that her human rights were breached under Articles 3 and 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights. Article 3 states: "No one shall be subjected to torture or to inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment."
Article 8 states: "Everyone has the right to respect for his private and family life, his home and his correspondence. There shall be no interference by a public authority with the exercise of this right except such as is in accordance with the law and is necessary in a democratic society in the interests of national security, public safety or the economic well-being of the country, for the prevention of disorder or crime, for the protection of health or morals, or for the protection of the rights and freedoms of others."
The Government was asked for and gave initial observations on its view of the merits and admissibility of the case earlier this year, following which the complainant was asked to give her response. The Court will now decide whether the case is admissible. If it decides that it is, it will enter a further information gathering stage.
The European Court of Human Rights was established by the Council of Europe in 1959 as a mechanism to enforce the obligations on member states imposed by the European Convention on Human Rights, which came into force in 1953. It is entirely separate from the institutions of the EU.