Religion & Law

Irish Court Focuses On Importance of Witness Oath

By Howard M. Friedman

 N.D. (Albania) v. International Protection Appeals Tribunal, (High Ct. Ireland, Sept. 22, 2020), was a suit brought by an Albanian woman who is challenging her order of deportation from Ireland. The suit seeks review of a decision of Ireland's International Protection Appeals Tribunal. The High Court dismissed the challenge on procedural grounds, while, however, also dealing with petitioners' claim that the Appels Tribunal decision was invalid because no oath was administered to her in the proceeding. The court said in part:

[W]hile the ongoing secularisation of society makes oaths, with their emphasis on religious beliefs, look like a pre-Enlightenment anachronism and an embarrassment, the unfortunate reality is that the oath still has a powerful role in bringing out the truth. There are people who are relatively untroubled about the theoretical civil and criminal consequences of lies to a court or tribunal, but who nonetheless hesitate if asked to call down their deity as a witness to such lies. The rational, bureaucratic, mind fails to appreciate that merely stiffening the criminal penalties for perjury has no effect whatever on that viewpoint.

Irish Legal News Reports on the decision.

Full post as published by Religion Clause on September 24, 2020 (boomark / email).