Taoiseach Micheál Martin has welcomed the Supreme Court ruling that found ratification of a major trade deal between the EUO and Canada to be unconstitutional, saying it brings clarity to the issue which can be remedied by legislative change.
Mr Martin said that credit was due to Green Party TD Patrick Costello for bringing the Supreme Court challenge to the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (Ceta) as the challenge had clarified what exactly the Government needs to do to ensure the agreement is constitutional.
“I have spoken to the Attorney General [Paul Gallagher SC] in relation to [Ceta] and there is credit to Patrick Costello for taking the case because on a positive level, it has brought clarity – it doesn’t require a referendum, the Supreme Court is adamant on that,” said Mr Martin.
“What the Supreme Court is saying here is there is a point of law here that you need to remedy, and they point out how it can be remedied through amendments to the Arbitration Act which is essentially ensuring nothing can be done which in any way impacts negatively on the Constitution.”
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Mr Martin was speaking in Cork after the Supreme Court ruled by a four to three majority that the creation of a tribunal system under Ceta with the power to make enforceable decisions on disputes between Canadian investors and EU member states would create “a parallel jurisdiction.”
This would be in breach of Article 34 of the Irish Constitution which states “that justice shall be administered in courts established by judges appointed in the manner provided for the Constitution,” the Supreme Court ruled.
Ceta was agreed between Canada and the EU in 2016 and is primarily a trade treaty designed to reduce tariffs and increase trade between the two parties and it came into force provisionally in 2017 but all national parliaments in EU states must ratify the deal before it can come into full effect.
Mr Martin said the Supreme Court ruling, which came on foot of Mr Costello’s appeal against a High Court rejection of his challenge to the constitutionality of the proposed ratification of Ceta, highlighted the importance of the separation of powers in a democracy.
“This is a very important point I would make in this context – it’s the value again of a democracy and the separation of powers – when we talk to younger people in schools and so on about the strength and resilience of our democracy, it’s about the separation of powers.
“We argue at European level the parliament has its role, the Government has its role, the judiciary has its role, and we have a written Constitution which guarantees a whole range of rights and gives a power, if you like, to limit the power of the executive at different times through judicial interpretation.”
