Events in April 2015 and after

CC BY ncarey

I've updated the listings of forthcoming events at www.irishlaw.org/events/.

Here's the current list:


Mon. 13 April 2015:
International conference - Child Protection and the Law, Law Society of Ireland - fully booked
Details at http://www.lawsociety.ie/International_Conference_Child_Protection_and_the_Law%20.aspx

Wed. 15 Apr. 2015:
Digital Rights Europe 2015.  Conference on digital rights issues including privacy, advocacy, security and data protection.
Details at https://www.digitalrights.ie/conference/

Wed. 15    Apr. 2015:       
TJI Seminar Series - Dr Ingrid Samset - 'Peace without prosecutions.  How the amnesty stabilised postwar Angola', Transitional Justice Institute, University of Ulster, Jordanstown campus   
Details at http://www.transitionaljustice.ulster.ac.uk/tji_events.html   

Thu. 16 April 2015:
John M. Kelly Memorial Lecture - Diversity in Family Life: Developments in the Case Law of the European Court of Human Rights, UCD Sutherland School of Law
Details at http://www.ucd.ie/law/eventsseminars/title,231572,en.html

Thu. 16 April 2015:
Are Irish universities committed to Enlightenment ideals? A forum on recent and forthcoming developments in Irish higher education policy and legislation.  Trinity College Dublin.
Details at http://www.cearta.ie/2015/03/a-forum-on-developments-in-irish-higher-education-policy-and-legislation/

Thu. 16 April 2015:
Youth Justice Transformation Conference - Report Launch - ACJRD, Dublin
Details at http://www.acjrd.ie/contents/274

16-18 April 2015:
The Embodied Subject - Northern/Irish Feminist Judgments Project - UCD and Griffith College, Dublin
Details at http://www.feministjudging.ie/?p=1228

Mon. 20 April 2015:
Promoting and Progressing the Rights of Persons from Minority Groups, Maynooth University
Details at https://www.maynoothuniversity.ie/law/events/promoting-progressing-rights-persons-minority-groups

Tue. 21 April 2015:
Investigating human rights violations in the Northern Ireland conflict: has there been impunity? - School of Law, QUB, Belfast
Details at http://www.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofLaw/News/Events/

Thu. 23 April 2015:
Informed Decision-Making for Environmental Law, Policy and Regulation, 13th Annual Law and the Environment conference, School of Law, University College Cork
Details at http://www.ucc.ie/en/lawsite/eventsandnews/title-540526-en.html

Fri. 24 April 2015:
The role of the judiciary in the vindication of human rights - distinguished lecture by Sir Declan Morgan at School of Law, NUI Galway
Details at https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10152623122882030

Sat. 25 April 2015:
Mental Health Law Conference 2015, jointly hosted by Centre for Criminal Justice & Human Rights, School of Law, University College Cork and Irish Mental Health Lawyers Association
Details at http://www.ucc.ie/en/ccjhr/events/title-541101-en.html

Mon. 27 Apr. 2015:
Narrative, Power and Commemoration in Conflicted Societies,    TJI Conference,    Belfast  
Details at http://www.transitionaljustice.ulster.ac.uk/tji_events.html   

Thu. 30 Apr. 2015:       
The more things change, the more they stay the same? Socio-economic rights in times of transition,    TJI Conference,    Belfast   
Details at http://www.transitionaljustice.ulster.ac.uk/tji_events.html    

Thu. 30 April 2015:
The Commission's Policy Priorities for the new Procurement Directives, Irish Society for European Law, Dublin
Details at https://www.isel.ie/event/view/103/the-commission-s-policy-priorities-for-the-new-procurement-directives

1-3 May 2015:
Privacy in the 21st Century - A contemporary and Brehon Perspective? Burren Law School. Co. Clare
Details at http://www.burrenlawschool.org

Thu. 7 May 2015:
The Frank Clarke Inaugural lecture - Irish Society for European Law, Dublin
Details at https://www.isel.ie/event
   
Fri. 8    May    2015:
Postgraduate Symposium - Occupation, Transitional Justice and Gender
Belfast campus,    TJI / IRiSS Symposium,    Belfast   
Details at http://www.transitionaljustice.ulster.ac.uk/tji_events.html   

Tue. 12 May 2015:
Commencement of free MOOC on Technology Law  - Understanding the Law in a Digital Age, Law Society of Ireland 
Details at https://mooc.lawsociety.ie  

Mon. 18    May    2015:                   
Dealing with the Past in Northern Ireland: Implementing the Stormont House Agreement.      Conference organised by Amnesty International, the Committee on the Administration of Justice (CAJ), Institute of Conflict Transformation and Social Justice (QUB) and the Transitional Justice Institute (Ulster University), Belfast   
Details at http://www.caj.org.uk/contents/1289

Thu. 21 May 2015:
Annual Review of Important Competition Law Cases and Developments in the EU and Ireland - ISEL, Dublin
Details at https://www.isel.ie/event/view/105/annual-review-of-important-competition-law-cases-and-developments-in-the-eu-and-ireland

21-22 May 2015:
On the Road towards a EU Criminal Justice system: problems, achievements and prospects. Centre for Criminal Justice, University of Limerick.
Details at http://www.ul.ie/law/news/00%5Bnid%5D-forthcoming-conference-centre-criminal-justice

2-4 June 2015:
The State and/of Comparative Law: Juris Diversitas conference, University of Limerick
Details at http://jurisdiversitas.blogspot.ie/2014/12/call-for-papers-state-andof-comparative.html

5-6 June 2015:
Irish Society of Comparative Law conference, University of Limerick
Details at http://irishsocietyofcomparativelaw.blogspot.ie/2014/11/call-for-papers-irish-society-of.html

Fri. 12 June 2015:
Annual  Irish Centre for European Law Procurement Conference, Dublin
Details at http://www.icel.ie/procurement2015

15-19 June 2015:
International Criminal Court Summer School, Irish Centre for Human Rights, NUI Galway
Details at http://www.conference.ie/Conferences/index.asp?Conference=405

22-26 June 2015:
Seventh International Summer School: The UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities – Human Rights and Disability-Inclusive Development, NUI Galway
Details at http://www.nuigalway.ie/cdlp/Summer_School_2015/summer_school_2015_info.html

Wed. 24 June 2015:
The Children and Family Relationships Bill 2015 – an overview of the key provisions - Law Society, Dublin
Details at https://www.lawsociety.ie/children-family-law-bill2015.aspx

Fri. 26 June 2015:
International Conference on Wrongful Convictions, Human Rights and Student Learning Experience, Irish Innocence Project, Griffith College Dublin
Details at http://www.innocenceproject.ie  

Fri. 26 June 2015:
Annual  Irish Centre for European Law IT Law Conference, Dublin
Details at http://www.icel.ie/ITlaw2015

Sat. 27 June 2015:
International Wrongful Conviction Film Conference, Griffith College Dublin
Details at http://www.innocenceproject.ie/events/

23-24 Oct. 2015:
Public/Private: Unlocking the Boundaries of Legal Thought, Belfast
Details at http://www.law.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofLaw/News/Title,495213,en.html 

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Gender Equality in Promotions

The case of Dr Micheline Sheehy Skeffington, who successfully claimed gender discrimination concerning the senior lecturer promotions process in NUI Galway, has been widely reported in the media.  This case illustrates a number of key aspects of employment equality law, and I am currently discussing it in my Employment Law classes.  The full decision - DEC-E2014-078 - is available here and I would urge those interested to read the case in full.  By way of background, for those unfamiliar with employment equality law, a quick summary of the Irish legislation is here.  Some key principles to bear in mind are the differences between direct and indirect discrimination and the meaning of objective justification in s.22 of the 1998 Act as amended.  The current version of the legislation is here.

There is no need to prove an intention to discriminate under the Act.  Once an employee produces prima facie evidence of gender discrimination, the burden moves to the employer to prove that it did not discriminate.  The ground relied upon need not be the only or indeed the dominant reason for the impugned decision. It is sufficient if the discriminatory ground is anything other than a trivial influence in that decision.  At the initial stage, the employee is merely seeking to establish a prima facie case. It is not necessary to establish that the conclusion of discrimination is the only, or indeed the most likely, explanation which can be drawn from the proved facts. It is sufficient that the presumption is within the range of inferences which can reasonably be drawn from those facts.  It has been noted that "discrimination is usually covert and often rooted in the subconscious of the discriminator. …the court must be alert to the possibility of unconscious or inadvertent discrimination and mere denials of a discriminatory motive, in the absence of independent corroboration, must be approached with caution."  (Nevins, Murphy, Flood v Portroe Stevedores - EDA051 - [2005] ELR 282). 

The decision includes detailed discussion of the procedure and scoring in the promotions round in question.  For purposes of my classes, I chose to highlight the following selected aspects (to understand all of these fully, you need to read the full case):

Prima facie evidence of direct discrimination in Sheehy Skeffington case (para. 4.3):

• No training for interviewers
• No marking schemes
• One male promoted even though not eligible 
• Only one woman on interview board of 7 people
• Registrar on interview board and involved in appeal
• Three successful males had less than minimum contact hours 
• Dr Sheehy Skeffington had supervised more PhDs than anyone else
• Some males received higher marks for contribution to School, etc., in anomalous manner

 Cumulatively, these were prima facie evidence of discrimination.

The employer provided rebuttals to many of these points (see paragraphs 3.1 to 3.12).  The Equality Tribunal responded to these rebuttals by making various points, which included the following:

• Statistical evidence showed women had a very low success rate in promotions.  From 2001 to 2009, men had a one in two chance being promoted; women had only a one in three chance.  
• The female candidate with the most glowing references was unsuccessful and came fourth last
• Dr Sheehy Skeffington had published well and had a fair record of grant funding   

The Tribunal therefore found that there had been direct discrimination on grounds of gender.

As regards indirect discrimination, the application form for promotions asked people to state when they were on maternity leave or other unpaid leave so that it could be discounted.  The Tribunal dealt with this issue as follows (see para. 4.6) :

• Males left this bank; Four females filled it in 
• The three females who left it blank ranked highest  
• The majority of female applicants drawing attention to their caring responsibilities outside the workplace disadvantaged them against the male applicants  
• The inclusion of the question on the form was a legitimate aim but it was not appropriate or necessary

The Tribunal therefore also found indirect discrimination.

The tribunal ordered that Dr Sheehy Skeffington be promoted to the post and awarded €70,000 compensation.  It also ordered that the employer conduct a review of its policies and procedures in relation to promotion to Senior Lecturer to ensure that they are in compliance with the Acts with particular reference to the gender ground. A report on progress of this review must be made to the Irish Human Rights and Equality Commission within one year.

Declaration of Interest: I am a male university lecturer.  I have attempted to highlight the grounds on which this case succeeded, for the information of readers of this blog. The employer's perspective is summarised fully in the case, but most of the employer's arguments were rejected by the Tribunal. 

Comments:  This case is best understood in the context of the principles established in earlier case-law, some of which are outlined above and in the full decision.  The Tribunal is not stating that if fewer women than men are promoted this automatically shows discrimination.  But since there were so many defects in procedure and anomalies in scoring, the statistics constituted evidence of direct discrimination.  It is also important to note that it was the cumulative impact of the various defects that lead to the prima facie evidence of discrimination. There will be those who will argue (as some students often do) that defects in procedure should not lead to findings of substantive breach.  However, if this does not happen, then the law is effectively providing a licence to breach procedure and sending a message that such procedures are unimportant.
As regards asking people to state if they had been on maternity leave, etc., this is only a minor aspect of the case and it is debatable whether this would always be discriminatory.  

On a related note, I spent a fascinating two days at the recent feminist judgments workshop here in UCC and look forward to reading the book which will result. 

Media stories on the Sheehy Skeffington case are available by doing web searches such as this. 

Call for Papers Irish Society of Comparative Law Annual Conference 2013

The School of Law at NUI Galway will host the Irish Society of Comparative Law 5th Annual Conference on Friday 24th and Saturday 25th of May 2013 in Galway. The theme for the Irish Society of Comparative Law’s Annual Conference 2013 is ‘Comparative Public Law’. Papers placing Irish public law in comparative perspective are especially encouraged, but any topic in comparative or legal systems may be proposed including private law topics. Proposals for thematic panels of papers are also welcomed.

The primary objective of the Irish Society of Comparative Law is to encourage the comparative study of law and legal systems. Students fully registered for a masters in law, or law-related area (LL.M, MA) are encouraged to submit papers, and the 2nd ISCL Young Researcher Prize will be awarded to the best paper delivered by a student in this category.

Proposals for papers for the 2013 conference should be short (250 words max) and sent to Charles O’Mahony at charles.omahony@nuigalway.ie. The deadline for receipt of proposals is Friday 15 February 2013. Applicants will be notified by Thursday 28th February 2013 if their paper proposal is successful. There will be an opportunity for poster presentations (Posters A1 size) to be displayed in the foyer of the conference venue, Áras Moyola. Poster presenters are expected to attend the conference in the normal way and to be available to discuss their work. You do not have to be a member of the ISCL to propose a paper or be selected to present a poster. Registration forms and additional information will be available early in 2013.

The Irish Society of Comparative Law was established in June 2008 and is recognised by the International Academy of Comparative Law. The ISCL is open to those interested in Irish and comparative law. Its purpose is to encourage the comparative study of law and legal systems and to seek affiliation with individuals and organisations with complementary aims. Queries regarding the ISCL should be directed to Niamh Connolly at niamh.connolly@tcd.ie.

The School of Law, NUI Galway has a long and distinguished tradition of teaching law and legal scholarship since 1849. The School of Law is comprised of full-time professors and lecturers who are academics producing research across a number of fields including human rights law, international and comparative disability law and policy, legal theory, criminal law, commercial law, maritime law and media law. Large national and international research projects, international conferences and guest lectures are organised under the auspices of the School of Law and its research centres, the Irish Centre for Human Rights and the Centre for Disability Law and Policy. The School of Law is home to a thriving Ph.D programme and offers a number of taught LL.M programmes including a dynamic LL.M in Public Law.

See
http://irishsocietyofcomparativelaw.blogspot.ie