''Costello v. Government of Ireland'' 022IESC 44 is a decision of the

Supreme Court of Ireland , image = Coat of arms of Ireland.svg , imagesize = 120px , alt = , caption = Coat of Arms of Ireland , image2 = Four Courts, Dublin 2014-09-13.jpg , imagesize2 = , alt2 ...

in which it held that Irish law precludes the ratification of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement, an agreement signed between

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and the

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on 30 October 2016. The case had been taken by Patrick Costello, a

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TD.

High Court

Patrick Costello challenged the constitutionality of ratification of the Comprehensive Economic and Trade Agreement (CETA) by the

government of Ireland The Government of Ireland ( ga, Rialtas na hÉireann) is the cabinet that exercises executive authority in Ireland. The Constitution of Ireland vests executive authority in a government which is headed by the , the head of government. The governm ...

. In September 2021, the

Irish High Court The High Court ( ga, An Ard-Chúirt) of Ireland is a court which deals at first instance with the most serious and important civil and criminal cases. When sitting as a criminal court it is called the Central Criminal Court and sits with judg ...

rejected the challenge. The judge, Nuala Butler, found that CETA did not entail an unconstitutional transfer of the State's sovereignty. She also found that tribunals established by CETA would not have jurisdiction to declare any provision of Irish law invalid. In addition she found that it was constitutionally appropriate and permissible for the State to ratify the agreement without a referendum.

Supreme Court

In January 2022, the

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allowed direct appeal of this judgment to itself, bypassing the

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in a "leapfrog" appeal due to "significant issues" regarding state sovereignty and the administration of justice raised in the case. This appeal began being heard in March 2022. In November 2022, the Supreme Court upheld the challenge, finding by a 4–3 majority that ratification of CETA would be unconstitutional as Irish law currently stands. The court however found by 6–1 that if amendments were made to the Arbitration Act 2010, it would then be constitutional to ratify CETA.

Gerard Hogan Gerard William Augustine Hogan, (born 13 August 1958) is an Irish judge, lawyer and academic who has served as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Ireland since October 2021. He previously served as Advocate General of the European Court of Justice ...

, one of the judges of the court, wrote in his decision that it "may yet be regarded as among the most important which this court has been required to hear and determine in its 100-year history".

Political reaction

Leo Varadkar Leo Eric Varadkar ( ; born 18 January 1979) is an Irish politician who has served as Taoiseach since December 2022, and previously from 2017 to 2020. He served as Tánaiste and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment from June 2020 to De ...

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and Minister for Enterprise, Trade and Employment, said that the government remained committed to the deal.

References

Citations

Judgment of Supreme Court

* – Summary of decision of the court, delivered by the Chief Justice
Authorised summary
– Provided by the court to assist in understanding the court's decision. It does not form part of the reasons for the decision. The full judgment of the court is the only authoritative document.
O'Donnell C.J.MacMenamin J.Dunne J.Charleton J.Baker J.Hogan J.Power J.
Law of the Republic of Ireland Republic of Ireland constitutional case law Supreme Court of Ireland cases 2022 in Ireland {{Ireland-law-stub