Dear Dr Manning,
With reference to the e-mail I copied to
you on January 3rd 2008 (see at
http://www.humanrightsireland.com/ChiefJusticeMurray/3January2008/Email.htm
), please note that I still have not received any reply from
Chief Justice
Murray to the registered letter I sent to him on
August 28th 2007
(copy at
http://www.europeancourtofhumanrightswilliamfinnerty.com/ChiefJusticeMurray/28August2007/Letter.htm
).
Neither have I heard anything from any of Justice Murray's
senior lawyer colleagues, who have been reminded on a number of occasions by
e-mail regarding the unexplained delay relating to a reply to my registered letter dated
August 28th 2007.
All I have received so far is the confirmation of
receipt letter from Chief Justice Murray's Private Secretary (Ms Carol Kelly),
which can be viewed at
http://www.europeancourtofhumanrightswilliamfinnerty.com/ChiefJusticeMurray/Reply/29August2007/Letter.htm
.
I would like to stress that it is now well over
five
years ago since I was charged with a criminal offence (which provides
for a jail sentence of up to six months) by the authorities in the Republic of
Ireland, and that I still cannot find a lawyer who is willing to discuss my
legal rights (under human rights law) with me, let alone use human rights law to
help me prepare my defence before appearing in court.
This
ongoing situation continues to appear to me to be an extremely straightforward
and serious violation of my legal rights under
Article 6 (Right to a fair trial) of the Republic
of Ireland's
European Convention on Human Rights Act 2003 (copy available
via
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=European+Convention+on+Human+Rights+Act+2003&btnG=Google+Search
).
If I am to receive justice, it seems to me that my legal defence
against the criminal charges being made against me, of necessity has to be (and
through no fault of mine) very complex; and, among other things, it involves
several issues relating to items of Republic of Ireland legislation produced in
recent years which I (and many others) believe are unconstitutional, and
consequently unlawful. Not only does such
unconstitutional legislation
undermine
Bunreacht na hEireann (the Constitution of the Republic of
Ireland), it also of course automatically undermines the sovereignty of the
Republic of Ireland nation state as well: which I, and many others I believe,
find deeply disturbing.
Allowing for the contents of the
paragraph just above, the main reason I sent my letter of August 28th 2007 to
Chief Justice Murray was because I knew that he would have had to have subscribed
to
Article 34.5.1° of
Bunreacht na hEireann in order for him to
hold his present job title and position. As you will no doubt already know,
Article 34.5.1° reads as follows:
"Every person appointed a
judge under this Constitution shall make and subscribe the following
declaration: 'In the presence of Almighty God I, ,
do solemnly and sincerely promise and declare that I will duly and faithfully
and to the best of my knowledge and power execute the office of Chief Justice
(or as the case may be) without fear or favour, affection or ill-will towards
any man, and that I will uphold the Constitution and the laws. May God direct
and sustain me.' ".
For a very brief general outline of
the overall set of legal problems I am at present struggling with, and the
general kind of background they are placed in, please see
www.humanrightsireland.com .
At the
present time, over five years after being charged with the criminal offence in
question, and many wholly avoidable and major complications later, I also
continue to believe that the only
just way to resolve the growing
set of legal problems connected with my case is through the use of
Article 13
(Right to an effective remedy) of the
Republic of Ireland's European Convention on Human
Rights Act 2003, which, as you will already know, reads as
follows:
"Everyone whose rights and freedoms
as set forth in this Convention are violated shall have an effective remedy
before a national authority notwithstanding that the violation has been
committed by persons acting in an official
capacity." I would also like to stress that I
have spent most of the past five years living in
forced exile outside the
Republic of Ireland jurisdiction, because that is the only way I have been able
to avoid being forced to appear before a
kangaroo court - i.e. a sham
legal proceeding, the outcome of which is essentially made in advance, for the
purpose of providing a conviction, either by going through the motions of
manipulated procedure or by allowing no defence at all: or
both.
Also, and for the purpose of removing any doubt, it has
always been my understanding that my court case, were I foolish enough to attend
the kind of kangaroo court in question, that is, would be decided on a "
Trial
by Judge" basis, and that I would not (under any circumstances) be allowed a
"
Trial by Jury": despite the possibility of I being given a six month
prison sentence for the particular criminal offence I have been charged
with.
In connection with my case, I feel it may be important
for me to point out to you that while seeking legal help in England, around
April 2003, I was very strongly assured by a professional counsellor
working in a large health centre in
Shrewsbury (who was appointed through
my GP at the time), that all charges against me had been dropped, and that
consequently it would be completely safe for me to return to the Republic of
Ireland.
Convinced that the assurance from the above mentioned
counsellor was genuine, I acted on it and returned to my home in the Republic of
Ireland in May 2003.
For a lengthy period, the
counsellor's assurance did appear to be completely genuine and safe: until
late November 2004 that is. Then, and for no good reason that I know of,
I suddenly received a visit from
Guard Thomas Kenny (local policeman in
New Inn,
County Galway) informing me that the whole criminal
charge business had been reactivated by his superiors, and that he was unable to
provide me with any explanation as to why. He claimed to know absolutely nothing
of the assurances I had received from the counsellor in Shrewsbury (referred to
above).
In addition, Guard Kenny threatened to
force me to
appear in court in
early December 2004, thereby giving me no realistic
chance at all to properly prepare my defence: if I was not willing to appear in
court voluntarily (as he was demanding I should). It was at this point that I
rapidly left the Republic of Ireland for a second time: in the hope of finding
the kind of legal help I by then felt I desperately needed, in Northern Ireland
(i.e. legal help which recognises the factual existence of human rights
law).
Unfortunately, I have found the legal profession in
Northern Ireland to be just as allergic to human rights law as their
counterparts in the Republic of Ireland.
I feel I should also
now point out to you that the original charge made against me in 2002 was
mysteriously changed (a month or so later) to a much more serious one. I have
never received any explanation as to why the original relatively trivial charge
against me was suddenly dropped, and simultaneously replaced by a much more
serious one that involved the possibility of criminalisation for "assault", plus
the possibility of a six month prison sentence as
well.
Recently, and with due regard for the ongoing failure
of Chief Justice Murray and his senior lawyer colleagues to reply to my letter dated
August 28th 2007, I have been considering sending a petition to the
United
Nations in connection with my case. However, on reading the
United
Nations Complaint Procedures, I notice that great stress is understandably
placed on the need to have
"exhausted all possible remedies in your own State
before bringing a complaint to a committee" (as can be seen via
http://www.google.com/search?hl=en&q=Complaints,+UN+human+rights+treaty+violations&btnG=Search
).
By providing you with the information about my case
contained in this e-mail, I hope that you will be able to help me resolve my set
of legal difficulties (in a just way), and without I having to formally complain
to the United Nations.
As stated above, I believe the only
way I can achieve justice is through the use of Article 13 of the Republic
of Ireland's European Convention on Human Rights Act
2003.
Put in nutshell, and correctly or otherwise, it appears
to me that Chief Justice Murray and his colleagues in the Republic of Ireland's
legal profession are caught up in some kind of a much outdated mindset
which has them collectively believing that it is okay for them to place
themselves above human rights law, and, at the same time, to place me beneath
it.
Everything that my circumstances have forced me to learn about
human rights law during recent years tells me that the mindset I refer to just
above is completely contrary to all of the basic principles of human rights law
(as set out by the
United Nations since
1948).
In very
simple terms, it seems to me that
nobody has the right to put
themselves above the law, and that nobody has the authority to put anybody
beneath it either.
Later today I will send a printed and
signed copy of this e-mail to you through the registered
post.
For future reference purposes, I will also place
an electronic copy of this e-mail at the following address:
http://www.humanrightsireland.com/DrMauriceManning/15January2008/Email.htm I
hope to receive a substantial written response from you within the coming 21
days please, and I will write my postal address on the printed copy (of this
e-mail) which I plan to send to you later today through the registered
post.
Yours sincerely,
William
Finnerty.