Dignity of the Individual in the Irish Constitution
The Importance of the Preamble

Teresa Iglesias

Issue 353, vol.89, Spring 2000

The Constitution of Ireland is one of the pioneer instruments in this respect. The idea of "the dignity and freedom of the individual" occurs in its Preamble. It is the foundation of the ethico-legal basis of our society.

From 1940 to 1993 there are at least twenty-five court cases in which the Preamble has been invoked in the judicial process. [In The Irish Constitution, John M. Kelly] draws attention to the role of the Preamble in judicial cases, citing, for example, cases of private property, the power to deport, extradition, sentencing policy, religion, and criminals appellate. Francis X. Beytag, Constitutionalism in Contemporary Ireland, deals with the Preamble briefly and highlights its religious significance, which, in the author's words, is "an advertent commitment to sectarianism". He, however, completely ignores the explicit evocation of what we can justifiably call "an advertent commitment to a just universalism", in paragraph five of the Preamble. This universalism of justice - which is also represented in other constitutional orders of other countries - is expressed in the Irish Constitution.

[The Government] appointed in April 1995 a "Constitution Review Group" to prepare a report on all aspects of the Constitution. The first and most radical recommendation as regards the Preamble is that it should be abolished. The proposal to abolish the Preamble gives no explicit expression to the universal commitment to assure “the dignity and freedom of the individual and true social order”. This commitment could be replaced, for example, by a contractual agreement to guarantee only the self-interests of, say, autonomous “voting” citizens in the State. In these circumstances, other citizens could be regarded as non-autonomous, and not “truly” citizens.

It cannot be ignored that there are influential movements in the world, not least in Ireland, which seek to exclude from the concept of the human being those who are taken to be “non-persons”, thus dividing the human family into two classes, persons and non-persons. The purpose of this division is to place the non-persons beyond the protection of law, so that they can be used, or disposed of, by those who are "persons", when these find it desirable to do so.  An Irish exponent of this view can be found in a recent publication (Facing up to Reality 1998). It recommends: “...the Constitution should be amended to provide that any right to life in the Constitution refers only to persons who are born”. Those who are not born are therefore not to be protected by the Constitution. Why not? we may ask.

A set of relationships, procedures and rules which must be co-ordinated in an orderly way do not constitute community. The ultimate elements of any community are human beings themselves, human individuals in relation to one another, set to attain something together as a community.  In this perspective the acknowledgement of, and response to, the claims of respect and care which our various human endowments make on us, become "the human rights" we are all called upon to defend. We may recall the words of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (1966): “Recognising that these rights derive from the inherent dignity of the human person...”. It is not only Ireland but also the whole community of nations, particularly the Western ones, that have to "face up to reality": basic human rights, for whom? Whose "inherent dignity and freedom?” The question is, “what and who are we”? Are we truly equal? Will everyone sharing the human condition have a chance, given by law, to live and flourish as it has been given to us? The Preamble of the Irish Constitution offers the finest answer and commitment to this question available. 
Teresa Iglesias is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy in University College, Dublin.