29 March 2021
ICCL contacted all TDs and Senators to call on them to protect our fundamental rights during the COVID-19 pandemic. Below is our call.
Ahead of tomorrow’s Cabinet meeting and anticipated announcement regarding the current level of COVID-19 restrictions, ICCL would like to reiterate our call for a human rights-based approach to the restrictions. In particular, we urge government to provide for the limited exercise of fundamental rights to constitute a reasonable excuse to leave home. This should be done in a manner reflecting the requirement that all interferences with our rights to protect life and public health must nevertheless be demonstrably necessary, proportionate to the aim of protecting life and public health and as minimal as possible to achieve that aim.
Of particular concern are the following:
- Currently, there is effectively a blanket ban on protests. Under the current regulations, a one-person protest at the end of one’s street can be considered illegal given protest is not provided as a reasonable excuse to leave home. Similar bans in other jurisdictions have been struck down by Constitutional Courts and we believe the current law is not in line with the Irish Constitution. The right to protest can be limited but not prohibited entirely, even in an emergency. We call on Government to include small, safe protest as a reasonable excuse in the next set of regulations with clear guidelines on how people in Ireland can exercise their right to protest in a pandemic-safe manner. This might include requirements on numbers, social distancing and mask wearing. Please see our latest statement on protest.
- There are no explicit protections for any gatherings in places of religious worship except for funerals. We have seen last week that the Scottish Supreme court has found a similar de facto ban on religious gatherings to be a disproportionate interference with the right to freedom of religion, as protected by the European Convention on Human Rights, which also applies in Ireland. In light of this ruling, Government must include small, safe religious gatherings as a reasonable excuse to leave one’s home within the next set of regulations. We suggest that guidelines on holding ceremonies outdoors, small numbers, social distancing, and wearing masks could be provided.
- Many people have been separated from close family members and loved ones for months. This constitutes a significant and ongoing interference with the right to private and family life. Government has a duty to respect the right to private and family life. Interferences must be demonstrably necessary, proportionate to the aim of protecting life and public health and as minimal as possible to achieve that aim. We urge the Government to include limited social gatherings as a reasonable excuse to leave home in the next set of regulations. People need guidance on how to meet in a safe manner. Rules within the regulations could include a requirement to meet outdoors, in very small numbers, limits on numbers of households allowed to interact, underpinned by guidelines on social distancing and mask wearing.
We would invite you to access ICCL’s work on the need for a rights-based approach during the pandemic at this link: https://www.iccl.ie/iccl-monitoring-rights-during-the-pandemic/