Thursday, October 06, 2011

Travellers - Clare, Equal Status Act

In 2008 I blogged about a complex case in County Clare concerning travellers bringing claims under the Equal Status Act 2000.


Thanks to Stare Decisis Hibernia, I see that High Court judgment was issued in July - Clare County Council v Director of Equality Investigations [2011] IEHC 303.
 
The Council made various complaints about ongoing Equality Tribunal hearings, e.g. that the claim forms submitted were not adequately completed. Hedigan J. refused various orders sought by the Council and allowed the hearings to proceed. Hedigan J. stated: "In establishing the Equality Tribunal, the Oireachtas did not intend to create a complex system of adversarial decision-making. The procedures before the respondents are not to have the formality of a court case."


Hedigan J. appeared to approve of the call-over system which was used to establish which claimants wished to proceed with their cases. He also emphasised that the claimants were entitled to be respresented by a non-lawyer (Ms Heather Rosen) and that "allowances must be made for the fact that lay persons and representatives do not articulate complaints in the same way as professionally qualified advocates".
 

Wednesday, October 05, 2011

Events in October 2011 and after

This is the listing of forthcoming events from October 2011 on.


For the live listing, see www.irishlaw.org/events/.

Thu. 6 Oct. 2011: 
E-Discovery Ireland 2011 - Dublin 
http://www.ediscovery.ie/

11-15 Oct.2011: 
ABA Section of International Law 2011 Fall Meeting - Dublin  
http://bit.ly/aba-dub-2011

Tue. 11 Oct. 2011:
Alternatives to Litigation in a Civil Society - School of Law, Trinity College Dublin, International Centre for Dispute Resolution and American Arbitration Association  
http://www.tcd.ie/law/events

Wed.12 Oct. 2011:  
A comparison of sanction regimes in Ireland, the United States and Canada - ISEL Competition Law Forum, Dublin   
http://www.isel.ie/ 

Thu. 13 Oct. 2011:  
Annual Property Law Conference - Law Society, Dublin  
http://www.lawsociety.ie/LSPT/

Fri.14 Oct. 2011:  
Mental Health in the Criminal Justice System: The deliverables of the Department of Health’s ‘Vision for Change’ - ACJRD, Dublin  
http://www.acjrd.ie/contents/109

Fri.14 Oct. 2011:  
Current Developments in Public Procurement Law - ICEL - Belfast   
http://www.icel.ie/ 

Wed. 19 Oct. 2011:  
The Law and People with an Intellectual Disability - Dublin  
http://www.inclusionireland.ie/LawConference.asp

Thu. 20 Oct. 2011:  
Cohabitation and Civil Partnership: The New Law in Practice - Faculty of Law, University College Cork  
http://www.ucc.ie/en/lawsite/eventsandnews/events/ 

Fri. 21 Oct. 2011:  
European Union Law in Practice - Faculty of Law, University College Cork   
http://www.ucc.ie/en/lawsite/eventsandnews/Conferences/  

Sat. 22 Oct. 2011:  
Ireland's Human Rights Record Under the Spotlight: The Implications of the United Nations Universal Periodic Review - Dublin   
http://www.lawsociety.ie/Pages/Events/9th-Annual-Human-Rights-Conference/   

Thu. 3 Nov. 2011:  
Union Citizenship in Practice: Its scope of application, its impact on Residence Rights, Social Security entitlements and Immigration Procedures - ICEL, Dublin 
http://www.icel.ie/ 

Thu. 3 Nov. 2011:
Annual Contract Law Update - Law Society, Dublin
http://www.lawsociety.ie/LSPT/

Sat. 5 Nov. 2011: 
Insolvency Law and Practice in the 21st Century: Irish and International Experience - University of Limerick
http://www.ucc.ie/law/irishlaw/events/Insolvency-UL-05nov2011.pdf

Tue. 8 Nov. 2011: 
Juvenile Justice 2001-2011: Criminal & Welfare Concerns - Dublin
http://www.acjrd.ie/contents/133

Wed. 9 Nov. 2011:  
Company Charges and Financial Assistance: The Significance of Planned Reforms in Law and Practice - Irish Corporate Law Forum Seminar, Dublin
http://www.iclf.ie/

Fri. 11 Nov. 2011:
Political Commitment, Practical Protection: Using the ECHR North and South - Dublin
http://www.pila.ie/events/2011/11/11/pila-pils-conference/

18-20 Nov. 2011: 
Annual Conference of Irish Association of Law Teachers, Athlone
http://www.ialt.ie/event/ialt-annual-conference-2011

Fri.18 Nov. 2011: 
Reflections on the role of European Union law through the financial and economic crisis - Irish Society for European Law (ISEL) and the United Kingdom Association for European Law (UKAEL), Dublin 
http://www.isel.ie/ 

Sat. 19 Nov. 2011: 
Genetic Discrimination – Transatlantic Perspectives on the Case for a European Level Legal Response - NUI Galway 
http://www.conference.ie/Conferences/index.asp?Conference=139

Tue. 29 Nov. 2011: 
Enduring Powers of Attorney - Law Society, Dublin 
http://www.lawsociety.ie/LSPT/