Labour Party publishes rights Bill

The Labour Party has published a Bill which would make the European Convention on Human Rights part of Irish law and oblige the Government to ratify international conventions on racism and torture.

The party said legislation was necessary because Ireland was falling short of "best international practice" in the area and was the only European state other than Norway not to have enshrined the human rights convention in law.

The Bill would also establish the Human Rights Commission to which the State is committed under the Belfast Agreement. Such a commission has been party policy "long before" the agreement, the Labour leader, Mr Ruairi Quinn, said.

Introducing the 10-page document yesterday, Mr Quinn said it was part of Labour's contribution to the 50th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which falls on December 10th. The Bill would play a small part in ensuring that the "high aspirations" of the declaration came to pass over the next 50 years, he said.

He criticised the Government's approach to human rights issues, "which appears to be afforded a low priority," he said and was "also reflected in the policy on Irish aid and the approach to IMF and World Bank policy on structural adjustment programmes". Making the European convention part of Irish law, he said, would mean Irish citizens would no longer need to go "all the way to Strasbourg" to have their rights vindicated.

The measure would also oblige the Government to ratify the international conventions against racism and torture, he added. The State has signed both conventions but not as yet ratified them, although the Taoiseach told an Amnesty International gathering last week that both would be ratified in the near future.

In addition, a whole series of conventions which the State has ratified but not enshrined in law would become part of Irish law under the Bill. These include the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women and the Convention on the Rights of the Child.