Supreme Court case could disrupt abortion referendum timetable

The timetable for Ireland’s referendum on the Eighth Amendment could be disrupted by the Supreme Court case on the meaning of “unborn” in the Constitution, The Irish Times reports.

The Chief Justice of Ireland, Mr Justice Frank Clarke, is presiding over the State’s appeal to a High Court ruling by Mr Justice Richard Humphreys.

Mr Justice Humphreys granted leave to a Nigerian man, his Irish partner and their one-year-old child for a judicial review over his planned deportation. He said the Justice Minister erred by failing to consider the couple’s then-unborn child’s rights beyond the “right to life”.

The judge found that article 40 establishes an unborn child as a child, and therefore article 42a – introduced after the children’s referendum in 2012 – confers rights to children “both before and after birth”.

Government ministers believe that they are almost certain to win the appeal, but anything other than a quick and emphatic win will cast doubt on the Government’s ability to finalise the referendum wording by Tuesday 6 March, according to The Irish Times.