Divorce and Remarriage as Human Rights: The Irish Constitution and the European Convention on Human Rights at Odds in Johnston v. Ireland

This note examines Johnston v. Ireland , which challenged the Irish ban on divorce in the European Court of Human Rights, and concludes that the court should have found that a constitutional bar to divorce violates human rights of both women and men. Part I summarizes the political and religious divisions that shape Irish divorce law and related family matters. Parts II and III discuss the case in the context of the European Convention on Human Rights. Part IV concludes that the case was wrongly decided. [Descriptors:Marriage, International - Europe]