A British citizen has been awarded £1,000 compensation against the Irish Government by the European Court of Human Rights for delays he experienced in civil proceedings.
Mr Michael McMullen, who has lived in Ireland since 1972, took the action to the Strasbourg court alleging excessive delays in connection with a case concerning Charleville Castle in Tullamore, which took 8 1/2 years to work its way through the courts.
Further complaints he made about bias against him in the courts due to his nationality and the fact that he complained against lawyers were not upheld.
He took his action under Article 6 of the European Convention on Human Rights, which states: "In the determination of his civil rights and obligations . . . everyone is entitled to a fair and public hearing within a reasonable time by an independent and impartial tribunal established by law."
In its judgment, the Council of Europe noted that the Government had said that similar violations could be avoided for the future, and that the Commission's report had been made available on the Internet site of the Irish Supreme Court. However, Mr McMullen pointed out that there was no such site.
A spokesman for the Courts Service, which is implementing a major technology system for the courts, including judgments, said no request had been received by the service from the Government to put this report on its site.
"We have very advanced plans to put High and Supreme Court judgments on our site, but this is not ready yet," he said.