UK top court says can’t rule on N.Ireland abortion law appeal

London (AFP) – Britain’s Supreme Court on Thursday said it could not rule on an appeal against Northern Ireland’s strict abortion laws, but that it would have declared them incompatible with human rights laws otherwise. 

By a majority decision, the justices said that the Northern Ireland Human Rights Commission (NIHRC), which brought the appeal, did not have the power to “institute abstract proceedings of this nature” but that the appeal was “well-founded”.