This week for the second time in history the Irish Government has announced its intention to lodge an Inter-State application against the United Kingdom before the European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg. The Irish government argues that the Northern Ireland Troubles (Reconciliation and Legacy) Act 2023 which was enacted in September 2023 and provides an extensive conditional amnesty is incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights.
The ruling in Allister and Peeples of 8 February 2023 serves as a potent reminder that the UK has yet to fully say goodbye to Brexit. The matter being scrutinised was the Northern Ireland Protocol and questions surrounding its constitutionality within the famously uncodified UK constitution. Critically, the UK Supreme Court appears to have poured cold water on the idea that certain Acts of the UK Parliament have a constitutional character (the constitutional statutes doctrine). It is my suggestion, however, that the doctrine has not entirely been consigned to history.
13. September 2025
Giovanni Capoccia
12. September 2025
Anne Peters
12. September 2025
Anne Peters