Sovereign Immunity in Ireland?

flogen

Just reading about the Daily Ireland Newspaper on the Wikipedia there, and came across an interesting case involving our law abiding McDowell:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daily_Ireland

A comment by the Republic's Minister for Justice, Michael McDowell on RTÉ's Questions and Answers live television debate programme, in which he claimed the newspaper was backed by the Provisional IRA and compared it to the Nazi party newspaper the Völkischer Beobachter, led to a threat of legal action for libel by the publishers of the papers... McDowell to date has refused to withdraw his comments, and told Daily Ireland he would see them in court. When they brought a suit against him in Belfast, his defence team declared that as Minister of Justice, McDowell has sovereign immunity. The case continues.

So, his team are arguing Sovereign Immunity, but does it exist in Ireland??
From what I gather sovereign immunity is saying that a government (or head of state) is immune from prosecution as they are, for want of another term, above the law.
I think it applies in the UK, but because the comments were made in Dublin (I assume), and they were made by an Irish politician, even if soveriegn immunity existed in the UK and Northern Ireland, would it be applicable in this case?
It seems like a bizarre idea if it does exist in Irish law, perhaps if the President was allowed but not the government (then again, I'd prefer if it didn't exist at all)... if it does, does this explain McDowell's joy at calling everyone a criminal, although he does usually use Dail Privilege

Eru

Theres little need to claim sovereign immunity. As minister for justice within the Republic of Ireland he has diplomatic immunity when operating outside the Republic. People may not like this fact but N.I is a different state.

Whats more interesting is how this comes into play for civil cases. In a civil case you cannot be extradited especially not to N.I but then again, his comments were made in Dublin so what jurisdiction applies?

Mickey for all his faults knows his law and knows it well. If hes so confident then Im pretty sure hes on solid ground. Remember his past comments? Lacking in arrogance he is not and he knows how far he can push people.

Im sure theres a barrister lurking here somewhere that specialises in this kind of case and may know some case law off hand.

On the other hand Wikipedia is an open forum. It can be edited and submitted by any user and need only be rubber stamped by the admin. There are plenty of areas within its sections which contain errors and biased information. therefore you should excircise caution when using it.

flogen

Yeah, I guessed diplomatic immunity would apply, but to the best of my knowledge the comments were made in Dublin; and even though the newspaper in question is based in NI, it can surely still sue in another country (especially the one where the alleged crime has been committed).

Perhaps it's their own fault for suing in NI rather than RoI...

Eru

flogen wrote:

Yeah, I guessed diplomatic immunity would apply, but to the best of my knowledge the comments were made in Dublin; and even though the newspaper in question is based in NI, it can surely still sue in another country (especially the one where the alleged crime has been committed).

Perhaps it's their own fault for suing in NI rather than RoI...

There is a comment in the rape thread covering civil law from one nation to another. That user may have a valid opinion on this subject.

Victor

flogen wrote:

So, his team are arguing Sovereign Immunity, but does it exist in Ireland?

Ultimately yes. The complainant would to be trying to make the Irish government subject to the court in Belfast (remember its a court instituted by the crown - the irony). That court has no way of enforcing judgement.