The High Court has dismissed a family’s claim that the State should provide new birth and marriage certificates in the identities they use under the witness security programme (WSP).
Mr Justice Rory Mulcahy ruled that the Civil Registration Act 2004 does not provide for new certificates reflecting a later change of name, and that its failure to provide such a mechanism did not breach the family’s constitutional, Convention or EU Charter rights. He also said any interference with rights, if there were one, would be proportionate to the State’s interest in maintaining birth and marriage registers as historical records.
The family, identified in the judgment only as the Doe plaintiffs, live outside Ireland under new identities after threats to their safety linked to information given to An Garda Síochána about a criminal gang. They argued that the absence of certificates in their new names caused hardship and could leave them dependent on assistance from the host agency. The case was heard in camera under an order protecting their identities.
The court accepted that the lack of birth certificates had created difficulties, particularly for three of the children, including when registering for school. Those problems had so far been overcome with help from the host agency. The judge said the evidence did not show that the family had faced insurmountable obstacles or been deprived of essential rights.
The judge accepted evidence from the second plaintiff that the lack of certificates was deeply upsetting. He also considered it more likely than not that there had been no meeting of minds over whether new certificates would be provided: the parents may have understood that a promised “full set of documents” included certificates, while Garda witnesses understood they would not be supplied. He found that the evidence did not establish an explicit promise by the State.
The family already had identity documents in their new names. The judge distinguished their case from earlier cases involving inaccurate official records: the original birth and marriage records were accurate as historical records, while new certificates in the requested names would record information that was not accurate at the time of birth or marriage.
The judgment noted that a statutory witness protection scheme and a legal mechanism for new certificates could bring benefits. But the judge said that was a matter for the State to consider, not something the plaintiffs could demand or the court could direct. The court dismissed the claim.