MORE THAN 400 of Ireland’s senior legal academics and practising lawyers have called on the Government to enact the Occupied Territories Bill. 

The open letter, signed by some of the country’s most well known barristers, says there is no legal impediment to enacting the legislation.

The Occupied Territories Bill in its original form would have banned all trade with illegally occupied territories, including illegal Israeli settlements in Palestine. The revised bill, however, is expected to cover goods but not services. 

It is understood that Tánaiste Simon Harris met with Senator Frances Black, the sponsor of the original bill, in recent days to discuss the issue. 

As reported by The Journal on Wednesday, the Tánaiste is to bring the revised draft of the bill to Cabinet next week. 

The letter from the lawyers on both sides of the border says that the Irish Government must enact the legislation to meet its obligations under international law.

“Successive Irish governments have delayed and prevaricated on what is known as the Occupied Territories Bill,” the letter says. 

“We do not consider there to be any insurmountable legal obstacles, in either Irish, European or international law, preventing the adoption of legislation prohibiting the import of goods and services produced in the unlawful Israeli settlements in the West Bank.

“We consider this is the absolute minimum required from the State to comply with its international legal obligations and the holdings of the International Court of Justice.

“Anything less would be an abrogation of Ireland’s long-standing commitment to international law and human rights.”

The letter goes on to call for the Government to publish in full any “existing legal advice” on proposed legislation.

The correspondence also said that the lawyers “demand” that the Irish government reviews and reports on existing trade and economic relations with Israel, including the issuing of bonds by the Central Bank.

“[This is] to ensure that these do not contribute to recognising, aiding or assisting the unlawful situation created by the continued presence of Israel in the Occupied Palestinian Territories.

“Finally, we call on Ireland to provide enhanced support to relevant international institutions, in particular those facing attacks and sanctions, such as the International Criminal Court and UNRWA,” the letter added. 

One of the main coordinators for the letter was Professor Shane Darcy of the Irish Centre for Human Rights at the School of Law in the University of Galway.

His colleague Aonghus Ó Ceallaigh, who is an international lawyer working on war crime investigations, was also involved in gathering the signatures. 

Ó Ceallaigh said today: “We think this needs to happen because we are being live-streamed genocide everyday on our televisions.

“In the future people will look back and ask what did we do, as they have with other great tragedies

“We know exactly what is happening. We are lucky to live in a country where there is a groundswell of support for what needs to be done. The Government gave a firm commitment and it is time to see action,” he said.

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