§ 48. Mr. Mayhewasked the Attorney-General why the United Kingdom did not contest the issue of torture raised against it, in the event unsuccessfully, by the Republic of Ireland in the recent case in the European Court of Human Rights.
§ The Attorney-GeneralThe Government took the view that no useful purpose would be served in this long protracted litigation by a re-examination by the Court of matters already dealt with comprehensively by the European Human Rights Commission. We therefore asked the Court not to reach decisions of its own on matters on which the Commission had found against the United Kingdom. This broad approach undoubtedly helped to produce a result which, taken as a whole, was highly satisfactory.