THE INCORPORATION of the European Convention on Human Rights into UK law has brought about a change in the relationship between the judiciary, the executive and the legislature in Northern Ireland, according to its Chief Justice.
Sir Declan Morgan was giving the eighth annual Human Rights Lecture to the Law Society in Dublin last night, which was opened by the Chief Justice, Mrs Justice Susan Denham and the president of the Law Society, Donald Binchy.
In terms of the Human Rights Act, which brought the convention into UK law, all legislation in Northern Ireland is secondary legislation and must be compatible with its jurisprudence, he said.
“There is, therefore, a need to ensure that judges and politicians understand what their respective roles are and each respect the areas reserved to the other,” he said. “This is likely to create a degree of difficulty from time to time but I think it right to report that I have found a genuine concern among our elected politicians to respect those boundaries and a genuine willingness to engage in fruitful conversation.”
Earlier Mrs Justice Denham spoke at the opening of the general assembly of European Judicial Councils in Dublin.
Judicial reform and standards, justice, society and media were among the topics discussed. “As the EU is developing, so too is the role of judges, both as national judges and as judges of the European Union,” she said. “More obligations and duties are being placed on the judiciary. Consequently, there is a need for more judicial co-operation. This necessitates a good understanding by members of the judiciary of the legal and judicial systems in other countries.”
The European Network of Councils for the Judiciary (ENCJ), was founded in Rome in 2004.