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which requires no such authorisation;

Whereas, in the present case, G.R. Lawless, the Applicant, although
he is not entitled to bring the case before the Court, to appear
before the Court or even to make submissions through a representative
appointed by him, is nevertheless directly concerned in the
proceedings before the Court; whereas it must be borne in mind that
the Applicant instituted the proceedings before the Commission and
that, if the Court found that his complaints were justified, he would
be directly affected by any decision, in accordance with Article 50
(art. 50) of the Convention, on the substance of the case; whereas
Article 38 of the Rules of Court authorises it to hear any person
whose deposition seem to it useful in the fulfilment of its task, as
is admitted, moreover, both by the Irish Government and by the
Commission;

Whereas in communicating its Report to Lawless, the Commission did not
fail to draw attention to its confidential character in expressly
forbidding its publication;

Whereas it follows from the foregoing that the Court is of the opinion
that the Commission is enabled under the Convention to communicate to
the Applicant, with the proviso that it must not be published, the whole
or part of its Report or a summary thereof, whenever such communication
seems appropriate; whereas, therefore, in the present case, the
Commission, in communicating its Report to G.R. Lawless, the
Applicant, did not exceed its powers;

(iii) As regards the presentation to the Court by the Commission of
the Applicant's observations on the Report and other points arising
during the proceedings

Whereas the Commission asked the Court for authorisation to submit, as
a document in the case, the Applicant's observations on the Report
following its communication to him under the conditions referred to
above; whereas the Commission requests a general ruling on its right
to communicate to the Court the Applicant's observations on points
arising in the course of the proceedings; whereas, while realising
that the Applicant is not a party to the proceedings before the Court,
the Commission has stated that it wishes to submit to the Court
the Applicant's views on the main points of the proceedings with which
he is concerned; whereas the Commission has invoked various
precedents drawn from advisory opinion procedure at the Permanent
Court of International Justice and, subsequently at the International
Court of Justice, where observations by individuals submitted through
the international organisations who applied for the advisory opinions
have been taken into consideration, although the Statutes of both
these bodies provide that States alone may be represented in Court;
whereas the Commission also invokes the terms of the Convention as a
whole and, in particular, the English version of Article 44 (art. 44),
to show that the authors of the Convention did not intend to
disassociate entirely the individual who had applied to the Commission
from the proceedings before the Court, but simply to prevent him from
bringing a case to Court himself;

Whereas the Irish Government maintained that if the Court agreed to
receive the Applicant's observations from the Commission, this would
constitute a breach of the Convention since, according to the French
version of Article 44 (art. 44), the High Contracting Parties and the
Commission alone were entitled to appear before the Court ("se
présenter devant la Cour"); and that, moreover, if the Commission were
authorised to submit the Applicant's observations as a Commission
document, the impartiality and objectivity required of the Commission
under the terms of the Convention would be impaired; and furthermore,
that to allow the Applicant to submit his observations to the Court would
be to give an individual the opportunity of using the proceedings as a
means of propaganda against his own Government;

Whereas the Court is not called upon to examine in detail the
precedents invoked by the Commission with regard to the part to be
played by the individual before an international judicial body;
whereas, though recognising their force, the Court must bear in mind
the fact that none of the examples cited is that of an individual
appealing against the action of his own Government, while in the
present case, proceedings were instituted by Lawless against the State
of which he is a national; whereas, accordingly, the solution to this
question must be sought in the special nature of the procedure laid
down in the Convention; whereas, according to Article 44 (art. 44) of
the Convention, Contracting States and the Commission are alone
empowered to bring a case before the Court or to appear in Court;
whereas, nevertheless, the Court must bear in mind its duty to
safeguard the interests of the individual, who may not be a party to
any court proceedings, and whereas the whole of the proceedings in the
Court, as laid down by the Convention and the Rules of Court, are upon
issues which concern the Applicant; whereas, accordingly, it is in the
interests of the proper administration of justice that the Court
should have knowledge of and, if need be, take into consideration, the
Applicants's point of view; whereas to this end the Court has at its
disposal: in the first place, and in any event, the Commission's
Report, which of necessity sets out the Applicant's allegations with
regard to the facts and his legal arguments, even if it does not
endorse them; secondly, the written and oral observations of the
Delegates and counsel of the Commission which, as the defender of the
public interest, is entitled of its own accord, even if it does not
share them, to make known the Applicant's views to the Court as a means
of throwing light on the points at issue; and thirdly, the Court may
also hear the Applicant in accordance with Rule 38 of the Rules of
Court, and, as part of the enquiry, may invite the Commission, ex
officio, or authorise the Commission at its request, to submit the
Applicant's observations on the Report or on any specific point
arising in the course of the debates;

Whereas, in the present case, formal note must be taken of the
Commission's request for authorisation to submit the Applicant's
observations on the Report, but whereas the Court having been unable
as yet to examine the merits of the case, is not in a position to
reach a decision on this request and reserves its right to do so when
it deems fit;

For these reasons,
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