The Supreme Court will rule on the extent of protections conferred by the state’s constitution, with its findings potentially set to impact this summer’s referendum on Ireland’s restrictive abortion laws.

The contentious Eighth Amendment of the country’s legal framework enshrines the right to life of the unborn – a provision that renders abortion illegal other than in exceptional circumstances.

Supreme Court judges have been considering whether unborn children are entitled to further rights under other sections of the constitution.

The ruling could impact the wording and timing of the anticipated referendum on the fate of the Eighth Amendment.

The case reached the floor of the Supreme Court after the State appealed a High Court judgment that ruled the unborn child did have enshrined rights beyond the right to life.

The High Court case was related to an immigration dispute involving a Nigerian man who argued that he should not be deported because the unborn child being carried by his Irish partner had multiple rights, including the right to the company of its father. The High Court essentially found that the unborn child is entitled to the same constitutional protections as a child.

The State appeal to the Supreme Court was fast-tracked because its outcome could have consequences for the Irish government’s referendum plan.

Citizens are due to be asked whether they…

Isaiah Haastrup’s parents had asked judges at the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) in Strasbourg, France, to intervene after losing two legal battles in England.

An ECHR spokesman on Tuesday said three judges had examined issues and declared the couple’s application “inadmissible”.

A High Court judge gave doctors permission to provide only palliative care to 12-month-old Isaiah against the wishes of his parents, Lanre Haastrup and Takesha Thomas.

Mr Justice MacDonald analysed evidence at hearings in the Family Division of the High Court in January.

Specialists at King’s College Hospital in London had said providing further intensive care treatment was futile and not in Isaiah’s best interests.

Mr Haastrup and Miss Thomas, who are both in their 30s and from Peckham, south-east London, subsequently failed to persuade Court of Appeal judges to overturn Mr Justice MacDonald’s decision.

They then made a written application to the ECHR.

“The court treated the case as an urgent matter,” said the ECHR spokesman.

“In the light of all the material in its possession and in so far as the matters complained of were within its competence, the court found that they did not disclose any appearance of a violation of the rights and freedoms set out in the convention or its protocols.”

His mother, Takesha Thomas told a private trial in January: “I am a Pentecostal Christian.

“For me,…

They will be told during a meeting in Geneva that religious minorities are among groups most vulnerable to being targeted in conflicts.

Disturbing reports of suffering endured by Christians and Yazidis at the hands of Islamic State in Iraq and Syria will serve as case studies during the meeting, which is highlight conflicts in Africa and the Middle East.

The side event is being organised by UN representatives from Poland and the Vatican as the 38th summit of the UN Human Rights Council continues in Geneva.

Giorgio Mazzoli from the Christian legal advocacy organisation ADF International, which is also an organiser, said the event’s aimed at highlighting the issue.

He told Premier: “Sadly, an increasing number of both international and non-international armed conflicts going on around the world to date are displaying a religious dimension.

“By organising this side event, ADF International wants to raise awareness.”

The meeting, which commences at 3pm local time, will debate possible ways of guaranteeing better protection for religious minorities affected by war.

Mr Mazzoli added: “Our main objective here is to call the international community to fulfil its responsibility to respond to the early warning signs of violence and persecution.”

In one of the extremist group’s most high-profile massacres, 21 Christians (mostly…

A number of conservative Church of England figures have signed a letter which defends the former Archbishop of Canterbury against any criminal probe, calling the idea “bizarre”.

The note, which appeared in Wednesday’s Daily Telegraph, says: “The notion that a criminal case could be brought against Lord Carey is so bizarre that we can only surmise that the object of the persistent pressure that brings these public attacks is not only Lord Carey but what he represents of biblically faithful Christianity.”

“An attack on him is an attack on us all.”

The signatories – which include former Bishop of Rochester Michael Nazir-Ali and the founder of Christian Concern, Andrea Williams – said similar high-profile cases have all been dropped without prosecutions.

They also wrote: “No one has been charged with any offence in relation to the misdemeanours of Jimmy Savile.

“The cases against Lord Bramall, Leon Brittan, Edward Heath and Cliff Richard were all dropped.

“Why is Lord Carey being targeted at this time? Certain public leaders appear to be being attacked by insinuation without due process.”

The Daily Telegraph reported on Monday that police and prosecutors were considering whether to bring a criminal investigation against the 82-year-old, following the publication of a report last June which heavily criticised him.

The document, produced by Dame Moira Gibb, concluded…