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BLASPHEMY LAWS ENDANGER freedom of speech and deny equality. They are arguably against Article 14 of the European Convention on Human Rights. This was recognised by the UK House of Lords Select Committee on Religious Offences in 2003; such laws are known to have a universal ‘chilling effect’ upon normal freedom of expression.
An inclusive blasphemy law, which Ireland’s law seeks to be, has been historically shown to be inadequate for protecting religious beliefs in conflict with one another.
Blasphemy laws are used to infringe on human rights around the world. They frequently lead to arbitrary arrest, detention, poor treatment in custody including torture, dubious legal procedures and poor application of justice. Examples include Greece, Poland, Algeria (prison sentences of varying length, failure of due process in trials, trials in absentia); Indonesia (longer prison sentences); Sudan (corporal punishment); Egypt (torture); Pakistan and Saudi Arabia (capital punishment).
Some specific examples from recent years: Asia Bibi, a Christian mother, is facing execution in Pakistan for comparing Jesus with Mohammad, and two politicians were assassinated for speaking out on her behalf. Rimsha Masih, a Christian girl with special needs, was charged with blasphemy in Pakistan after a Muslim cleric planted burnt pages of the Quran as evidence against her. Alexander Aan, an atheist civil servant, was jailed in Indonesia after writing on Facebook that ‘god does not exist’.
Additionally, blasphemy laws have been condemned by reputable international bodies. Since 2011 the Human Rights Committee of the United Nations has considered laws against blasphemy and religious defamation as constituting violations of international law and has asked for their removal. The Venice Commission, which advises European states on constitutional issues, advises that incitement to hatred, including religious hatred, should be a crime; that insult to religious feelings should not be a crime; and that the offence of blasphemy should be abolished and should not be reintroduced.
Atheist Ireland argues that the Irish blasphemy law in particular is harmful.
The Irish blasphemy law reinforces the religious ethos of the 1937 Constitution. The preamble states that all authority of the State comes from a specific god called the Most Holy Trinity. You cannot become President or be appointed as a Judge unless you take a religious oath. There are also other references in the Constitution to religion, as opposed to gods. We should be removing 1930s theistic references from the Irish Constitution, or updating them to reflect the reality of Ireland today, not legislating to enforce them.
The blasphemy law brings our parliament and our laws into disrepute. It does not protect religious belief; it incentivises outrage and it criminalises free speech. It also treats religious beliefs as more valuable than atheistic or secular beliefs. There are definitional problems around the wording that is citing elements of degree to enact the offence. And we have already seen from the X Case, when the State sought an injunction to prevent a raped pregnant child from leaving the country, that religiously-inspired Constitutional provisions can be implemented when nobody expects it to happen.
Islamic states, led by Pakistan, use the Irish blasphemy law at the UN to promote universal blasphemy laws. Professor Heiner Bielefeldt, United Nations Special Rapporteur on Freedom of Religion, has advised Atheist Ireland:
Of course you are right that the major damage done by this legislation is the international one.I wouldn’t expect any harsh verdicts being handed down in Ireland, but those countries that continue to have an intimidating anti-blasphemy practice like to quote European countries to unmask Western hypocrisy. I hope things will be moving in the right direction.
Many reputable Irish bodies have already recommended removing the offence of blasphemy from our Constitution and laws.
In 1991, the Law Reform Commission recommended deleting it as there was no place for such an offence in a society which respects freedom of speech. In 1996 the Irish Constitution Review Group also recommended that it be deleted from the Constitution. In 2008 the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution recommended deleting it as a modern Constitution should not expressly prohibit blasphemy.
Atheist Ireland is now asking the Convention to recommend removing the offence of blasphemy from our Constitution.
Michael Nugent is a writer from Dublin, Ireland, and chair of the advocacy group Atheist Ireland. To view the full submission to the Constitutional Convention click here. He has written three books, co-written two and was one of the three writers of comedy musical play I, Keano. You can read his blog here.
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So despite Shao giving a false name initially and a false address, it is enough to evade deportation for being unlawfully in the state, so it seems anyway.
@Honeybee: No it’s not. As we can see from the judges statements when he ruled in the states favour last November, “merely sending a document to the wrong address does not make it invalid” . This is about the failures with the Garda and the GNIB , which amounted technically, to evidence being withheld from the courts. We can’t have court judgements made when all the relevant information is not submitted. Lessons learned(hopefully) check if given addresses even exist and make sure computer data recording systems are fit for purpose and data is up to date!
How much did the members of the legal trade squeeze out this farrago?
It’s nice work if you can get it.
Unbelievable..
And how much has all this fiasco cost us, the tax payer? Not being deported on a technicality. This is a joke, hes illegally here, knows that hes illegally her and so do the courts.
Meanwhile he remains an illegal immigrant and as such should be removed, no?
So the judge says that nobody is to blame for this; yes there is someone to blame: the judge!
How did he manage to get married? Would he not have to prove he’s here legally? Did he produce false documents or information for the marriage?
@Peter: No. He obviously was unaware of all the letters that were went to him over 9 years :D
@Peter: There are grounds to appeal this on the basis of his marriage .Interesting how he got married as an illegal !!
How much did the members of the legal trade make out of this farrago?
It’s nice work if you can get it.
The land of milk and honey if you’re playing the system , otherwise it’s the second highest tax taker in Europe if your a worker ,no wonder all the real brains of the country are still emmergrating ,ie doctors ,nurses,
@Gerard Heery: 2nd highest tax taker if you are a worker…..so income tax? Do you have a source for that?
@Gavin Conran: it was on the rte news last week Denmark has highest
So, has he been deported or what? Deportation should not hinge on technicalities.
‘He who seek justice must come with clean hand.’ The blameless and unintentional misleading of the court should not have rendered this deportation order invalid. It does not change the fact that he knowingly stay here illegally.
@Irish Snowden: Equity doesn’t apply in this case, and if it did, the State’s paws were dirtier.
Meanwhile, we can’t seem to extradite FFG despite their $230 debt.
@Denis McClean: Billion.
@Denis McClean: I presume you mean the people that took out loans they couldn’t afford to pay back got us into this mess, do some research
@Denis McClean: the €230bn (which is actually more like the ~$256.56bn as of this morning) on the irish debt clock? As in the debt clock that started on the state since the state was born? The same debt that will never be paid back in our lifetime, unless you’re proposing each citizen fork out circa 48k each to pay it back. This is why NTMA issue bond sales, so that they can keep up with their interest payments of this debt. To conclude, this debt is not just FFGs, its everyone’s in Ireland.
@talksense: You can’t really be that naive, can you? Here’s the PAC transcript with AIB’s chairman admitting that the Irish banks were at fault for throwing the country off a cliff. Don’t let facts get in the way of your ability to be duped. https://inquiries.oireachtas.ie/banking/hearings/dermot-gleeson-former-chairman-aib/
So why isn’t he processed for deportation with the correct information!
Anyone who is illegal should be deported it should be that straight forward. I wounder if they caught the lads that came in on a container in new port Ross late last year ?
If this was a report about an Irish man living in China, and an attempt by the Chinese police to wrongfully deport him, people here would have plenty to say in his favour. The justice system worked here as it is supposed to, the Judge protected this man from a wrongful approach to his case by the executive arm of the State.
@John Considine: But I very much doubt if the apocryphal Irish man living in China could evade the authorities for 18 years. How could he rent/buy accommodation, work (I suppose), get married, get legal aid (I suppose). Oh, and get a fair hearing at one the top courts in the land. Chinese courts convict more than 99.9 percent of defendants (source: Daily Telegraph).
@Earth Traveller: Be glad then that you don’t live there and enjoy the rights that the Irish system gives you.
@John Considine: That’s exactly how I read it. Also, I’m unsure why people are being arrested now for the crime of obstructing traffic. I’m sure we’ve all had car trouble at some point. It doesn’t sound like anything worth going to court over, TBH.
@John Considine: Nope. I want all people who are in a country they’re not supposed to be in, to be sent back to the country they came from. Even the Irish.
Best article I’ve Ever read on The Journal. By Far ! & I’ve probably read more than most, commented on very feaw. However, I must add, i do giggle at Most comments. Interesting case. Hope all works out. T
Few. Phew !
Tip of the Iceberg. It seems Ireland rewards those who break the law.
Best article I’ve Ever read on The Journal. By Far ! & I’ve probably read more than most, commented on very feaw. However, I must add, i do giggle at Most comments. Interesting case. Hope all works out. T
Ireland once again allowed to be taken for a Ride . What a complete joke, how incompet-nt we are when it comes to immigration policy for our country. We the working tax payer continues to foot the bill. This outrage will only continue until we have a world wide recession, and then we will wake up. Shame, Shame, to continue and make M orons
out of us.
just checking i’m not banned!
@Marie Broomfield: whey hey! where my initial comment gone so. so bloody annoying! (wasn’t even a toxic warning unlike this comment)
All Chinese students are here not for learning but to stay over the time on visa, its a scam to by in here in the first instance then they are in and overstayed indefinitely , have a child usually and get leave to remain. We are too soft here.
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