That Charter Again

Yer man in Rome* wants us to get enthused about the Charter of Fundamental Rights (hereinafter "CFR").

I am sorry, but I just can't see any rationality in this approach.

We older people - anyone over, say, 30 - should really get over the idea that producing a document and calling it a charter and/or having it refer to rights, fundamental, human or otherwise, automatically means that it is A Good Thing.

Would it be good for you to have the (fundamental human) right to insult people you despise ? No ? How about a (fundamental human) right not to be insulted ?

There seems to be nothing new in the CFR. I was wrong in an earlier post to say that the provision relating to it in the Lisbon Treaty would make no difference, but not that wrong. It would serve an important technical purpose, but in no sense could it be said to mark a Great Leap Forward.

Here are some relevant questions:

Does the CFR create any new rights for EU citizens ?

Is there anything in the CFR that is not already recognised in Irish law ?

Would the CFR allow us to appeal to the European Court of Justice ("ECJ") from Irish courts if we felt our fundamental human rights had been infringed ?

Could the an ECJ strike down a Directive or Framework (i.e laws made at EU level) because it contravened CFR ?

The answers may surprise some Treaty supporters.

*Note for non-Irish readers:This is not a coded reference to the Pope or to any other German.