HUMAN RIGHTS are less protected in the Republic than in Northern Ireland and Britain, according to a leading human rights lawyer.
Lord Lester of Herne Hill also said he doubted whether the recently enacted prohibition on blasphemy would survive a legal challenge.
The Liberal Democrat life peer and president of the Human Rights Lawyers Association was in Dublin to launch the third information pack in the Irish Council for Civil Liberties and Public Interest Law Alliance, “Know your rights” series.
The other two dealt with criminal justice and privacy, and all are distributed to citizens information centres and are on the two organisations’ websites. The third pack is on the European Convention on Human Rights. It describes in plain English what rights are protected and outlines how to take a case to Strasbourg.
Speaking at the launch, Lord Lester spoke of the Belfast Agreement’s commitment to an equalisation of human rights protection in both parts of the island.
“A fair reading of your Constitution and European Convention on Human Rights Act compared with our Human Rights Act and Northern Ireland Act, does not seem to me to ensure an equivalent level of protection,” he said.
He added: “Your . . . Act provides for the weakest form of incorporation of this key international treaty.” Speaking of the right to freedom of speech, he said: “Your Constitution gives stronger protection to reputation than to freedom of expression.”