Minister for public service, Ruairí Quinn, objected 30 years ago to proposals for Ireland to sign a European Convention which would allow for the transfer of Irish prisoners held abroad back home because of the existing overcrowding problem in Irish prisons.

The State wants the High Court to strike out a decision it can be sued, along with the Christian Brothers, by three alleged sexual abuse victims, following a European court ruling in the landmark Louise O’Keeffe case.

It is a pity that the politicians and media seem to have virtually ignored recent developments in the North. 

A French doctor was acquitted of poisoning charges after giving lethal injections to seven terminally ill patients, and Britain’s Supreme Court said an assisted-suicide ban is incompatible with human rights, fuelling the arguments of those who say the duty of doctors is to end the suffering of those beyond treatment.

A terminally ill woman will take her landmark case for assisted suicide to Europe if she loses her appeal, supporters have revealed.

Radical cleric Abu Hamza and four other terror suspects could be put on a plane to the United States within days after Europe’s human rights judges rejected their bid for an appeal.

Radical cleric Abu Hamza and four other terror suspects could be put on a plane to the United States within days after Europe’s human rights judges rejected their bid for an appeal.

A man once sentenced to death for his role in the shooting dead of two gardaí following a botched robbery has had his bid for freedom dismissed by the High Court.

A man found guilty of sending a menacing tweet had celebrity backing as he renewed his challenge against conviction in the UK today.

The Supreme Court has dismissed businessman Jim Kennedy appeal's against a High Court decision rejecting his bid to stop his trial over alleged corrupt payments for land rezoning.

An action for damages by a man who claims he was assaulted by US actor Woody Harrelson in a Dublin city centre nightclub may not now go ahead.

A man facing charges under new anti-gang legislation has secured the permission of the High Court to challenge a District Court judge's refusal to grant him legal aid.

A Basque killer is to be extradited to Spain to face charges of justifying terrorism, a Belfast court ruled today.

The decision to impose a one month prison sentence on a woman for the non-payment of a debt of €5865 has been described as being something from Victorian times when people could be jailed for lengthy terms over debts, the High Court has heard.

THE spectre of international terrorism stalked Europe during the late 1970s with far-left groups such as the German Baader-Meinhof gang (later the Red Army Faction) and Italian Red Brigades the focus of cross border security operations.

Four people facing jail over their failure to meet credit union loan instalments have brought High Court proceedings arguing that the manner in which their cases were dealt with breaches the State's obligations under the European Convention on Human Rights.

THE Government has failed to uphold the basic rights of victims of crime, according to an independent human rights watchdog.

An action brought by a man detained at the Central Mental Hospital (CMH) who claims that the refusal to release him is a breach of his rights under the European Convention is due to be heard by the High Court in July.

FAMILY law reform campaigners have given widely differing reactions to a High Court judgment in the case of a man seeking guardianship of the baby he fathered for a lesbian couple.

A MOVE by Tánaiste Michael McDowell to give householders the right to defend their homes with violence was last night branded a “licence to kill burglars” by civil liberty campaigners.

A minister today quizzed the Opposition over reports it urged the gagging of the Taoiseach at the European Parliament.

The Irish state’s refusal to recognise or allow same-sex marriages was compared to racial prejudice in the US during a landmark case before the High Court today.

THE British Government is considering legislation instructing judges how to interpret the Human Rights Act if they try to block the government’s tough new deportation policy.

THE Government last night insisted a proposal to enable the Colombia Three to serve their sentences here was feasible despite predictions the measure would never stand up in court.

The Prince of Wales and Camilla Parker Bowles were tonight said to be “pleased” after winning the latest round in the legal fight over their intended marriage.

MOST of the European decision-making mechanism is now on vacation but in September we will see what portfolios will be allotted to Charlie McCreevy, Peter Mandelson and their various new Commission colleagues.

I WOULD like to clarify a number of points raised by Brian Flanagan in his letter ‘Small fry in the new EU superstate’ (Irish Examiner, July 15), referring to the new EU constitution which will be put to the voters in this and other member states.

Europe’s top human rights court rejected an appeal today to grant full human rights to a foetus, saying it was up to national governments to decide on the issue.

French President Jacques Chirac is “not certain” a compromise accord on a EU constitution can be reached at a crucial summit this week.

THE Taoiseach yesterday predicted numerous difficulties would arise in the negotiations on finalising the new European Union Treaty.

IT is time that the main political parties stated their position on the EU draft constitution, especially in view of the recent meeting of candidate countries in Prague.

The EU will be thrown into crisis if the draft of a European constitution is rejected, German Foreign Minister Joschka Fischer warned today.

NERVY Fianna Fáil backbenchers were reminded yesterday of the strengths of their present leader from the unlikely source of the Tánaiste Mary Harney.

I READ in your issue of March 29 that I am supposed to be seeking to challenge a 40-year sentence on various grounds. This is untrue.

FORMER UN Human Rights Commissioner Mary Robinson yesterday criticised the Government’s failure to make human rights part of Irish constitutional law, 52 years after we signed up to an international convention.

Radical proposals for what a Bill of Rights for Northern Ireland should contain were made today by the North's Human Rights Commission.