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Government proposals to reform the inspection of prisons will not allow Ireland to ratify the Optional Protocol to the UN Convention against Torture (OPCAT), the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has said. The rights body will become the co-ordinating national preventative mechanism (NPM) u

A judge in the Circuit Court was incorrect in law in directing a jury to return a verdict of not guilty on a count of endangerment in circumstances where the garda investigation did not include an interview with the accused, the Supreme Court has ruled. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission

The Garda Representative Association (GRA) has been ordered to appoint Tara McManus to the position of assistant to the general secretary after finding that she was victimised for raising a complaint of discrimination. Ms McManus, a member of An Garda Síochána since February 2000, lodg

The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission is set to intervene in a Supreme Court case concerning the reach of search warrants in relation to electronic devices. The rights body has been given permission to use its amicus curiae function in DPP vs Patrick Quirke, a case where a search warrant wa

The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has been granted leave from the High Court to exercise its amicus curiae function in a significant case focused on redress for survivors of historic child sexual abuse in schools. As amicus curiae in the case of PD v. The Minister for Education, the wat

Plans to require EU nationals crossing the border into Northern Ireland to apply for electronic travel authorisations in advance raise serious human rights and equality concerns, the Oireachtas has been told. In an address to the Houses of the Oireachtas, Sinéad Gibney, chief commissioner of

Ireland is failing to meet its obligations under a binding human rights treaty to protect the rights of workers, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has said. In a report to the Council of Europe, the rights body said Ireland has not yet accepted several provisions of the Revised European

The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission is providing legal representation in a growing number of cases coming before the courts and the Workplace Relations Commission (WRC), its latest annual report shows. The rights watchdog began 2021 with 149 individual clients approved for both legal advi

The Supreme Court has quashed a decision to refuse an Irish passport to a child whose father's refugee status was retrospectively revoked. The case focused on "UM", who was born in Ireland and asserted Irish citizenship on the basis of his Afghan father’s residency in the country, as a refugee

Gardaí should be required by law to record race and ethnicity data during a stop and search, the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has recommended. The rights watchdog has also called for stronger wording to prohibit racial profiling, as well as detailed guidelines developed in consu

The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has been granted liberty by the Supreme Court to exercise its amicus curiae function in a significant case relating to surrogacy, citizenship and children's rights. The case examines the citizenship of a child, known as "C", born through surrogacy in th

Information to assist bereaved families involved with the inquest process has been published by the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission. The new Information Note on the Rights of Families at Inquest gives families a road-map of the existing law, standards and procedures that apply at inquests

The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has launched a new online learning module to support public servants' understanding of the human rights and equality obligations of their work. The new e-learning module, which will be rolled out across the civil service, was formally launched at an eve

The government has been urged to clarify whether proposed legislation on digital recording by gardaí explicitly covers facial recognition and other emerging technologies. The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission said the human rights and equality implications of these technologies need

The Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission has called for "greater urgency and prioritisation" of Ireland's commitments to eliminating racism and racial discrimination in Ireland. The rights watchdog has marked the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination by publishing its