Amendment to create 'secret constitution' - group

A "secret constitution" could be created if the Government wins the abortion referendum, according to a group of Irish lawyers…

A "secret constitution" could be created if the Government wins the abortion referendum, according to a group of Irish lawyers.

A press conference held today by 15 groups advocating a No vote raised a number of legal concerns over the wording of the amendment. Among them was a claim that EU law could be contravened and that a variety of legal challenges would be inevitable if the proposed constitutional amendment became law.

Ms Aoife Goodman, convenor of Lawyers Against the Amendment, claimed that part of the proposed change in consitutional law would not be written into the Consitution.

She referred to a section of the amendment which states that if the Government’s proposed legislation accompanying the amendment is enacted within 180 days then, approximately half the text of the new amendment "shall be omitted from every official text of the Constitution...but shall continue to have the force of law".

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Ms Goodman said this could create a "hidden or secret constitution".

"We’re being asked to vote for an amendment, part of which, would be omitted from the text of the constitution," Ms Goodman said.

She said if a similar mechanism were used in future referendums, "we could end up with a large part of the constitution which isn’t in the official text".

Green party MEP, Ms Nuala Aherne said the section that refers to a minister asking for details relating to a particular case would undermine patient confidentiality and could result in woman’s identity being made public.

"The referendum wording potentially undermines a European directive on the protection of personal data, adopted in 1995, the foundation of which is Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights which guarantees the protection of private and family life.

"Disclosure of deeply private and sensitive information, which cannot be justified by the interest of the person could be in breach of Community law," she said.

Reading from a statement issued by the 15 groups represented at the press conference, Sociologist Dr Mary Corcoran said the amendment removes "what little protection there is for girls and women in a crisis pregnancy situation who are suicidal".

"The X case judgment has not opened the floodgates in the past 10 years," she said.

However, a number of speakers claimed that if the amendment was passed then many court cases would ensue over matters relating to suicidal females, IUDs and the morning after-pill. The Irish Council for Civil Liberties Mr Liam Herrick said "any unforseen aspect" of the amendment would result in another referendum.

There was also concern expressed about the 12-year sentence for those having or assisting abortion being enshrined in the Constitution.

The Alliance for a No Vote called on the Government to explain why the criminalisation of women who have abortions outside the terms of the proposed laws was not mentioned in the Oireachtas All-Party report on abortion.

"Where did this proposal come from? Who is responsible for drafting such a draconian, anti-woman measure?" asked Ms Sinead Kennedy.

Speakers at the press conference said legislation was the best way to tackle the problems thrown up by the X and C cases, with Labour Party leader Mr Ruairi Quinn saying his party would, if returned to Government, enact legislation based on the X case.

Present at today’s press conference, chaired by Dr Mary Corcoran, Senior Lecturer in Sociology at NUI, Maynooth were Senator David Norris and represents of the Abortion Reform; Alliance for a No Vote; Archdeacon Gordon Linney; Cherish; Cork Women’s Political Association; doctors for Choice in Ireland; Green Party; Irish Council for Civil Liberites, Irish Family Planing Association; Lawyers Against the Amendment; Labour Party; Sinn Féin; Well Woman Centre; Women’s Aid.