Supreme Court examines identity rights of those in witness protection program – The Irish Times

The rights of people participating in the state’s top-secret witness protection program are being examined by the Supreme Court as part of a family’s case seeking fake birth certificates to reconcile them with their new identities.

A three-judge panel of the court said the appeal filed by the “Doe” family raises a “serious issue” regarding the identity and equality rights of those protected under the program, which has been in place at least since the murder of journalist Veronica Guerin in June 1996.

The court will consider whether the state is obliged, constitutionally or under European human rights law, to give protected witnesses a new identity from birth in official documents.

The Doe family, whose new identities are being kept secret, have joined the Garda-run Witness Security Program following ongoing threats and harassment after providing information to gardaí about the activities of a criminal gang.

The state had already resettled the family several times within Ireland, but the gang threats continued. They were then taken abroad and given new identities.

Her youngest child is the only one with a birth certificate in the family’s new name, as he was born after an identity change. The rest have a passport and the parents have a driver’s license in their new name.

They claim they had difficulty enrolling children in schools and applying for certain benefits. To overcome this problem, they had to rely on the support of a foreign reception agency. They anticipate that there will be further problems and argue that they will never be fully independent, contrary to what they believe was the intention of the program.

Justice Rory Mulcahy of the Supreme Court concluded that the lack of new certificates did not violate the Doe family’s rights under the Constitution, the European Convention for the Protection of Human Rights and Fundamental Freedoms and the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights.

He accepted that the state “could” amend the Civil Registration Act 2004, which provides that a birth registration can only be changed if it contains a clerical or factual error. However, adjusting the Doe family’s situation through legislative changes would somewhat weaken the status of birth and marriage records as historical records, he said.

In their application to the Supreme Court, they argued that the legal obstacle to obtaining new birth certificates and a marriage certificate undermined their fundamental rights. They claim that they need these documents for practical reasons in order to fully participate in civic life.

Ireland’s Garda Commissioner, Attorney General and Attorney General responded that the number of people affected was very small and the rights sought by the Doe family were not enshrined in law.

Three Supreme Court justices agreed that the appeal should be heard. Although the number of those affected is very small, it will “increase,” they said.

The justices said the court will consider the identity rights that exist for participants in the witness security program and whether the state must have laws or another process in place to allow the issuance of birth and marriage certificates under new and protected identities.

No date has yet been set for the appeal.