Dr Stephanie Palmer has written a blog post for the International Association of Constitutional Law (IACL/AIDC) on the repeal of the Eighth Amendment in Ireland, and the recent human rights challenge brought by the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission against current criminal law provisions on abortion.
Looking first at the Republic of Ireland, Dr Palmer outlines a range of policy influences contributing to the repeal of the Eighth Amendment. Moving on to Northern Ireland, Dr Palmer describes the decision of the UK Supreme Court in In Re Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission’s Application for Judicial Review [2018] UKSC 27 as a pyrrhic victory. While the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission were thought not to have standing in this case, the judgment indicates that if a 'victim' with standing were to challenge the existing legislation which criminalises abortion, they would obtain a declaration of incompatibility between the national legislation and the ECHR.
Dr Palmer's post can be found here.