Introduction of Irish Law

There are few critical elements for a country to function well, and one of them is the element of law. Law is crucial for every country to maintain their legal status as a nation and control their relevant aspects such as social, political and economic relationships. Law is also essential for any country to make sure that their people and properties are protected. The evolution of law has been different for different countries, and each country has different kind of laws. It is important to understand that law is something, which may not come from just a single source; rather there can be various sources for law. In Ireland, the law is mainly driven from its constitution, which was established in 1937. The Irish Constitution is a legal document, which sets out the rules that how this country would be governed. So, it is also their primary source of law, but it is important to mention that constitution is not the only one in this regard, but there are few other sources of law as well. In this paper, the discussion will revolved around Irish main sources of law, and what relationship they pertain with each other [1]

Major Sources of Irish Law

 There are four major sources of law for the Ireland to develop its legal system with set rules and regulations. The first one is the primary one, which is Irish Constitution, and the second one is their Legislation. The third major source of law is the Common law, which is holding its ground in both Ireland and United Kingdom, and the fourth one is EU law. Other than these major sources, there are few other sources as well like cannon & international law. Here is the description of each major source of law is given below:

The Irish Constitution

 The Irish Constitution is a written one, and their major source of law. The name of their current constitution is “Bunreacht na hÉireann”, which was passed in 1937. The state functions as well as its relevant agencies are defined by their constitution. The Irish people fundamental rights are also provided by their constitution along with making separation of powers for the state. The Irish Constitution has made a division for their law making authorities into further three parts; first is the Government, second is Judiciary, and the third one is Legislature. It is important to mention here that each legal entity out of these three entities is independent from each other. Each legal entity also has its own certain functions to perform, and specific powers to exercise. There are superior courts i.e. the Supreme Court as well as High Court, which play their part in enforcing fundamental rights of the citizens of Ireland.

            It is important to see that what some primary fundamental rights are for citizens protected by their constitution. The Irish citizens have right to their family as well as private life, right of personal liberty, right of owning property, and right of equal treatment by their law. So, it is essential for the Irish judiciary that they make sure constitutional rights of people are not violated. Moreover, if any law has been passed by the Irish government, then a Judicial Review is done by the judiciary to ensure that new passed law is guaranteeing the basic constitutional rights, and stop any violation of that. The Oireachtas is the other entity, which is bicameral parliament of Irelands, and it can make new laws. But the Oireachtas has to ensure that new law is according to the guidelines provided by the constitution, otherwise law will not get the legal status. It shows that Constitution is main source of law in Ireland, and it is the one, which covers and controls all kind of relevant legal system and functions [2]

The Legislation of Irish Law

The legislation made by the statue law is another major source of law in Ireland. It is important to understand that legislation in the legal system of Ireland is done through their bicameral parliament named as Oireachtas. The Oireachtas has two houses, one is their upper house, which is House of Senate and its name is Seanad Éireann, whereas the lower house is their House of Representative named as Dáil Eireann. The Irish President also part of this legislation system, because when two houses pass any law or bill, it goes to the president so that he/she signs it, and law can be made constitutional. It is important to mention that two kind of legislation made in this statute law system. The first one is called primary legislation, whereas the other is secondary legislation [3]

In this legislation system of statue, the rules made by the legislatures are rigid as well as very specific. If any law has been passed through the proper legislation system, and becomes part of constitution, then it cannot be repealed until a new bill is moved into the legislation to change or amend the previous one. It is important to understand that any bill presented by the government must pass through both houses, then it goes to the president and after president signs the bill, it becomes law. But if any law is conflicting with the Irish Constitution, then due to its unconstitutionality, it will be struck down. The secondary legislation is referred to delegating power to any person or authority in Ireland to make and implement laws [3]

The Common Law

The common law is a legal system, which operates in both United Kingdom and Ireland, but the difference is that Irish Constitution is a written one, whereas United Kingdom has not any written constitution. The development of common law was made by the England, where the decisions were made on the basis of precedent, customs as well as traditions. The actual framework of this law is that it is based on decisions made in the history by judges, so in current situations, the courts refers to these earlier made decisions of case laws, and then applies it to the current case, but it is important that both situations are same. By doing so, the judge can decide the present case on previous precedent, or even previous precedent can be overruled, and a new precedent can be provided for further legal procedures in the country. In this case law system, the dispute cases are the most common, where two parties come for the case, and a legal entity hears the case and gives decision on the basis of facts and precious case decisions [4]

The EU Law

Being a dualist state as per the Article 29.4.6 of the Irish Constitution, Ireland has to enforce or implement the laws as per the European Union laws. The national parliament of Ireland has to ensure that they conform to EU as well as International laws, when any kind of legislation is made. These laws may not be applied to domestic laws, specified for the domestic purposes. Currently, there are total 27 member states of European Union, and Ireland is one of them. The EU has its own body of law under its legal system, and this body can enforce as well as apply certain laws in each member of the EU. The constitution can invalidate any laws made by European parliament, but Irish Constitution cannot invalidate any law passed by the European Union, which asserts that EU law has a supremacy over the national law of Ireland, being a member state of the European Union [5]

How Different Sources of Law Interact with Each Other?

It is a fact that different sources of law in any legal system do interact with each other in so many ways, and their interaction and influence on each other defines that how things will work in a legal system. There are four main sources of law for Ireland has been discussed in above discussion, and it is important to review that how these sources interact or influence each other. The Irish Constitution has a direct interaction with its Legislation, because when any conflicting law is passed by legislation, it would be considered unconstitutional by the Irish Constitution. Moreover, common law can have its own way of preceding the cases, but those cases will always be overlooked by the constitution. The most important interaction is of Irish Constitution and EU Law. The EU law is a superior one, has great influence because if any law is made against the guidelines off EU law, it will be invalidated, and EU law is the only authority to invalidate any law passed in the Irish Constitution [5]

 References of The Main Sources of Irish Law