Mental Health and Capacity Law Conference 2019

The annual Mental Health and Capacity Law conference takes place on Saturday 6 April at Brookfield Health Sciences Complex, UCC.

This conference is jointly hosted by the Centre for Criminal Justice & Human Rights, School of Law, UCC and the Irish Mental Health Lawyers Association.

Topics to be considered will include recent case-law on the Mental Health Act 2001, developments in capacity law and comparative reflections on mental health law in England & Wales. 

The conference is topical as there have been two relevant amending Acts passed in 2018:

- the Mental Health (Renewal Orders) Act 2018

- the Mental Health (Amendment) Act 2018 [not yet commenced] 

In addition, discussions are continuing on the implications of the Assisted Decision-Making (Capacity) Act 2015, due to be commenced in 2020.  The commencement of this Act will further the state’s progress towards implementation of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities, which Ireland ratified in 2018. 

Details of the conference may be found at

https://www.uccconferencing.ie/product/ccjhrimhlaconference6thapril/

For further information please contact Deirdre Kelleher,  deirdrekelleher@ucc.ie or on 021 490 3642.

Speakers will include:

• Judge Anselm Eldergill, Court of Protection, England
• Ms Barbara Brennan, See Change Co-Ordinator and Mental Health Consultant
• Ms Áine Hynes, Partner, St. John Solicitors, Dublin
• Dr Miriam Kennedy, Consultant Psychiatrist, Highfield Healthcare, Dublin
• Mr Paul Brady, Barrister
• Mr Richard Hammond, President, Southern Law Association, and Chairperson, Mental Health and Capacity Task Force of the Law Society of Ireland

Conference Convenors:  Dr Darius Whelan, School of Law, UCC and Ms Joan Doran, Solicitor, Chair, Irish Mental Health Lawyers Association 

Further Information from Ms Deirdre Kelleher, School of Law, UCC, phone (021) 490 3642, email deirdrekelleher@ucc.ie.

 CPD points are available for Solicitors and Barristers 

College of Psychiatrists of Ireland – 3.5 Hours CPD Credit.    (https://www.irishpsychiatry.ie/product/mental-health-and-capacity-law-conference-2019/)

Mental Health and Capacity Law Conference 2018

The Centre for Criminal Justice and Human Rights, School of Law, University College Cork and Irish Mental Health Lawyers Association held their 2018 conference on Mental Health Law and Capacity Law in UCC on Saturday 12 May 2018.

Topics discussed included Recent Developments in Mental Health Law, Dealing with Capacity Issues in Practice, and Children and the Mental Health Act 2001.

Ms Katharine Kelleher, Partner,  Comyn Kelleher Tobin, Solicitors, Cork, spoke on  ‘Section 25  Mental Health Act 2001 in practice from a legal perspective'. Ms Kelleher outlined how children with mental disorders are detained in approved centres by the District Court.  She discussed the evidence required at these court hearings and issues such as what happens when the children reach the age of 18. 

Ms Freda McKittrick, Head of Barnardos Guardian ad Litem Service:   ‘Catching or Falling? The experience of working with children in the Mental Health and Child Care Systems’. 
In this paper, Ms McKittrick outlined what works for children with mental health issues: continuity of service, structural integration of services, and where services are well established and prepared to manage risk.

Dr Anne Jeffers, Consultant Psychiatrist, spoke about the College of Psychiatrists of Ireland REFOCUS Group.  REFOCUS is the Recovery Experience Forum of Carers and Users of Services. REFOCUS is made up of 10 people with experience of mental illness, and ten people who had family members who used the services. The aim of the forum is to actively engage with the College of Psychiatrists, in order to improve the education of psychiatrists, and thereby improve mental health services. 

Dr Lisa Butterly, Historian:   ‘A Jury of My Peers’. 
Dr Butterly said she feels resentful of how poorly Ireland treats people with schizophrenia.  She highlighted the stigma attached to schizophrenia and noted that stigma bypasses self-determination, destroys self-esteem and destroys self-identity. 

Ms Brid Breathnach, Deputy Official Solicitor and Senior Civil Litigation Lawyer, Office of the Official Solicitor, London: ‘Serious medical treatment applications in the Court of Protection in England and Wales - a practitioner's perspective’:
Ms Breathnach said that the use of independent experts was an important safeguard in medical treatment cases. She spoke about recent cases in the Court of Protection, including cases concerning termination of pregnancy and persons in a vegetative state.

Mr Michael Lynn, Senior Counsel:  ‘Recent Developments in Mental Health Law’: 
Mr Lynn discussed important cases such as  A.B. v. Clinical Director of St. Loman’s Hospital,
Court of Appeal, 2018, where the court declared that s.15(3) of the Mental Health Act 2001 is unconstitutional.  The declaration stands suspended until November 2018.

Ms Áine Hynes, Partner, St. John Solicitors, Dublin:  ‘Dealing with Capacity Issues in Practice - Recent Developments’: 
Ms Hynes discussed how the High Court's wardship jurisdiction has become more flexible in recent years.  She also noted that a solicitor has a special duty of care in respect of vulnerable clients, and that a family member cannot give instructions to a solicitor for another family member lacking in mental capacity.

The conveners of the conference were Dr Darius Whelan, School of Law, UCC and Ms Joan Doran, Solicitor, Chairperson of the Irish Mental Health Lawyers Association.

Videos and slides from the conference are available at
https://www.ucc.ie/academic/law/docs/mentalhealth/conferences/

Save the Date: Mental Health and Capacity Law Conference 2018

SAVE THE DATE

Centre for Criminal Justice & Human Rights, School of Law, University College Cork and

Irish Mental Health Lawyers Association 

Annual Conference 2018

Mental Health Law and Capacity Law   

Saturday 12 May 2018 

10.00 a.m. to 2.00 p.m.

Brookfield Health Sciences Complex, University College Cork   

Conference programme will be published shortly, once finalised.

Speakers will include:

• Ms Freda McKittrick, Head of Barnardos Guardian ad Litem Service:   ‘Catching or Falling? The experience of working with children in the Mental Health and Child Care Systems’ 
• Mr Michael Lynn, Senior Counsel:  ‘Recent Developments in Mental Health Law’  
• Dr Lisa Butterly, Historian:   ‘A Jury of My Peers’ 
• Dr Anne Jeffers, Consultant Psychiatrist: ‘Learning from the Patient: Experience with the College of Psychiatrists of Ireland REFOCUS Group’ 
• Ms Katherine Kelleher, Partner,  Comyn Kelleher Tobin, Solicitors, Cork:  'S 25  Mental Health Act 2001 in practice from a legal perspective'  
• Ms Brid Breathnach, Deputy Official Solicitor and Senior Civil Litigation Lawyer, Office of the Official Solicitor, London: ‘Serious medical treatment applications in the Court of Protection in England and Wales - a practitioner's perspective’ 
• Ms Patricia Hickey, General Solicitor for Minors and Wards of Court 
• Ms Áine Hynes, Partner, St. John Solicitors, Dublin:  ‘Dealing with Capacity Issues in Practice - Recent Developments’ 

Conference Convenors:  Dr Darius Whelan, School of Law, UCC and Ms Joan Doran, Solicitor, Chair, Irish Mental Health Lawyers Association

- Conference Fee - €120 
- NGOs €50
- Academics - €50
- Devilling barristers and trainee solicitors - €50
- Students – Free

Further Information from Ms Deirdre Kelleher, School of Law, UCC, phone (021) 490 3642, email lawevents@ucc.ie.

Four CPD Hours – Solicitors and Barristers
College of Psychiatrists of Ireland - 3.5 external CPD Credits.

Book Online 

Twitter hashtag:  #IMHLAUCC 

Monitoring of smartphones and by CCTV in the workplace

I recently participated in an interdisciplinary seminar at UCC on 'Electronic Monitoring in Ireland: Shaping what we do and who we are'.

The title of my talk was 'Monitoring of smartphones and by CCTV in the workplace'. 

I discussed the legal implications of (a) use of smartphones and (b) monitoring by CCTV in the workplace.

Smartphones allow receipt of emails on a 24/7 basis, even when the employee is in theory off duty.  Employees’ locations may also be monitored.  The implications for employees’ mental health and compliance with the Working Time Directive were considered.  CCTV monitoring also raises significant issues, for example regarding the purposes of monitoring and the relationship between data protection law and employment law.

My presentation:
http://bit.ly/monitoring-law

A podcast interview:
"Listen to Dr Darius Whelan (@dariuswirl) speak with Jane Mulcahy (@janehmul) about the monitoring of smartphones in the workplace and the use of CCTV by employers"
https://itunes.apple.com/ie/podcast/dr-darius-whelan-shares-his-thoughts-on-electronic/id1288572014?i=1000408249932

[UCC School of Law Podcast]     If you don't have iTunes, the file is here.

The organisers of the seminar were Dr. Eleanor Bantry-White, Applied Social Studies; Dr. Katharina Swirak, Criminology; Dr. Debora Jeske, Applied Psychology; Dr. Fiona Donson, Law.

Speakers included
Professor Mike Nellis, Emeritus Professor of Criminal and Community Justice in the Law School, University of Strathclyde
Dr. Ciaran McCullagh, Associate Professor, University of Limerick
Gerry McNally, President of the Confederation of European Probation (CEP) and Assistant Director, Irish Probation Service
Professor Frederic Adam, Business Information Systems, UCC
Dr. Eleanor Bantry White, UCC School of Applied Social Studies
Dr. Orla O’Donovan, UCC School of Applied Social Studies

Some tweets may be found at #EMIreland

Case-law referred to in my presentation includes:

UPC Ireland v UNITE and SIPTU (2015)  LCR20938
https://www.workplacerelations.ie/en/Cases/2015/March/LCR20938.html

O'Connor v Galen Ltd (UD 1514/2009)

Köpke v. Germany (2010)
http://hudoc.echr.coe.int/eng?i=001-101536 

López Ribalda v Spain (2018)
http://www.bailii.org/eu/cases/ECHR/2018/14.html

Ali v First Quench (2001)
www.bailii.org/ew/cases/EWCA/Civ/2001/446.html

McGowan v Scottish Water (2004)
www.bailii.org/uk/cases/UKEAT/2004/0007_04_2309.html

Gresham Hotel (Case Study 6 of 2007)
https://www.dataprotection.ie/docs/Case-Studies-2008/c/732.htm#6

Westwood Swimming (2011)
https://www.dataprotection.ie/docs/Case-Studies-2011/1212.htm#9

Employee v Employer (Supermarket Restaurant) UD893/2010 (2012)
https://www.workplacerelations.ie/en/Cases/2012/September/UD893_2010_MN848_2010.html

Legal Capacity Conference, UCC, Saturday 9 April 2016

Centre for Criminal Justice & Human Rights, School of Law, University College Cork and
Irish Mental Health Lawyers Association

Legal Capacity Conference 2016

Saturday 9 April 2016
10.00 a.m. to 2.00 p.m.
Brookfield Health Sciences Complex, Room G10
University College Cork

Speakers and chairs include:

• Professor Peter Bartlett, Nottinghamshire Healthcare NHS Trust Professor of Mental Health Law, University of Nottingham   
• Ms Louise Loughlin, National Manager, National Advocacy Service for People with Disabilities 
• Dr Alan Corkery, Consultant Psychiatrist in Rehabilitation Psychiatry, North Cork Mental Health Services 
• Professor Mary Donnelly, School of Law, University College Cork  
• Ms Áine Hynes, Partner, St. John Solicitors  

Conference Convenors:
Dr Darius Whelan, School of Law, UCC and Ms Joan Doran, Solicitor, Chair, Irish Mental Health Lawyers Association

- Conference Fee - €80  
- NGOs €30
- Academics - €30
- Devilling barristers and trainee solicitors - €30
- Full-time students – Free
- UCC Staff – No charge

Further Information from Ms Noreen Delea, Events Manager, School of Law, UCC, tel: (021) 4903220, email n.delea@ucc.ie.

Four CPD Hours available

http://imhla.ie/events/2016/3/10/ucc-09april2016

Link to book online:
http://www.uccconferencing.ie/product/legal-capacity-conference-2016/

IT Law Clinic at UCC - dealing with queries from startups

How can you protect the copyright in your images and software?
How can you ensure your site complies with data protection law?
What are the laws on selling online?
What are the rules regarding web domain names?
Can customer data be stored in cloud services?
-  For questions like these, contact the IT Law Clinic

At the IT Law Clinic, UCC law postgraduate students provide information to startups on legal questions.   There is no charge for the service.
Students and academic staff work in partnership with established law firms.
We are part of the European network of ICT law incubators – www.ilincnetwork.eu.

Contact us for more information:
Phone (021) 490 3452.  Email itlawclinic@ucc.ie    

Twitter: @ITLawClinicUCC

https://www.ucc.ie/en/law/society/law-and-innovation-clinic/ 
IT Law Clinic, School of Law, University College Cork

Copyright Law for Digital Teaching and Learning event

We held an event on Copyright Law for Digital Teaching and Learning in May 2014 and here is a brief report:

Funded by:
National Forum for Enhancement of Teaching and Learning - www.teachingandlearning.ie.

Theme:  Teaching for transitions - assisting learners in the transition from conventional learning to blended learning or e-learning

Date:  15 May 2014

Link to recording:  http://bit.ly/CDTL-15

Link to slides: http://www.slideshare.net/dariuswirl/presentations

Link to Storify: https://storify.com/dariuswirl/copyright-law-for-digital-teaching-and-learning-ma

Hashtag: #copyrightdtl   -  https://twitter.com/hashtag/CopyrightDTL

Pictures: https://www.flickr.com/photos/dariusw/sets/72157644862628692

Blog Post:  http://irishlawblog.blogspot.ie/2015/07/copyright-law-for-digital-teaching-and.html

Speakers:

Dr Louise Crowley, School of Law, University College Cork
Mr Jason Miles-Campbell, Manager, JiscLegal, Glasgow
Dr Eoin O'Dell, School of Law, Trinity College Dublin
Dr Darius Whelan, School of Law, University College Cork

Key insights from the day:

• In online learning materials, it is better from a copyright law perspective to direct users to find the material themselves rather than providing a copy to them
• The current educational exceptions regarding copyright are very narrow
• The Copyright Review Committee has made important proposals to update the law, but these have not been implemented
• Staff should familiarise themselves with the requirements of the Irish Copyright Licensing Agency (ICLA) licence.
• It can be valuable for an institution to have one team or central unit dealing with copyright
• If using images licensed under Creative Commons, it is important to always use proper attribution

Key contributions from the seminar to the broader Forum outlined theme: 

The seminar advised participants how to create learning materials (for blended and online modules) which comply with Irish copyright law and create assessment tools which comply with copyright law. It developed awareness of developments such as Creative Commons, Open Educational Resources and open source software.  It assisted participants to communicate relevant requirements of copyright law to learners who take part in modules.  Knowledge of these topics will enhance the abilities of participants to provide online or blended courses and enable learners to transition from conventional learning to e-learning.

See also the summary of the day by Caroline Rowan of University of Limerick

Picture by Pat Rice

The Internet at 40: Reflections on Cyberspace

John Naughton - CC BY SA - Sebastiaan ter Burg 

We had a very interesting symposium this morning here in UCC on "The Internet at 40".  It followed two lectures by Professor John Naughton which he had given yesterday on the topic.  John's lectures developed themes from earlier lectures such as this one from March on 'Our Networked Future.'  He also drew on his recent book From Gutenberg to Zuckerberg: What You Really Need to Know About the Internet.  

The symposium was chaired by Professor Cormac Sreenan, and panellists were Karlin Lillington, Theresa Reidy, Alfred Moore and myself.  There were really interesting contributions from the audience as well.  It was organised by Ionad Bairre and Bettie Higgs, the Interim Vice President for Teaching and Learning.

Some of my thoughts were as follows (based on rudimentary notes I made in advance):

I wonder are some people now “pacified” by the web?  Is it the new opium of the people?  Has it replaced religion? What are the key “values” people seek online?  Maybe people look for “coolness” as a value.  “That’s a cool site; that’s a cool video”.  Slickness; humour; entertainment; shopping are all “values”.  All of this masks the fact that code is not neutral (as Lawrence Lessig has said).  Search results are not neutral.  The order of items on your Facebook timeline is not neutral.

However, there are exceptions to corporatisation, e.g. Wikipedia.  Also, activists can fight back on the “coolness” front – e.g. the recent video “Stop Watching  Us” which included Maggie Gyllenhaal, Oliver Stone, John Cusack and  Lawrence Lessig .  The video was produced by a coalition of 100 organisations including the ACLU, EFF and EPIC.  Tim Berners Lee supports the coalition and the video has had 1 million views.  Stop SOPA campaigns were also positive example of activism.  Wikipedia went dark for a day.  

John Naughton speaks of permissionless innovation online, which can be good or bad.  My input on this:  Copyright law can stifle innovation.   History shows the extent of copyright protection has continuously been extended – both in what it covers and in duration.  We now have extremely long durations of copyright such as 70 years after the death of the author.  We have absurd scenarios such as an eBook of Alice in Wonderland with a note in the settings saying “The book cannot be read aloud”.  You cannot easily give your ebook to your partner, child or friend.  It’s not clear how your family will inherit your ebooks when you die.  More absurdity: Ebook vendors can possibly “rescind”  a book from your ebook reader even weeks after you've downloaded it.  Ironically, "1984" by George Orwell  was  rescinded from people’s ebooks in 2009.  

David Cameron said that Google might not have started in the UK.  Fair use in the USA is broader than in Europe.  We need to raise awareness of the limitations of copyright law, and variations between national laws. 

John Naughton refers to the generativity of the internet, as highlighted by Jonathan Zittrain.  My example to flesh this out:  Creative Commons is in a way an example of generativity.  (If you're not familiar with Creative Commons, see www.creativecommons.org.)  People can use Creative Commons licensed works to publicise their work, but still charge for commercial use of their work.  

Important reforms of copyright law have been proposed in the recent report of the Copyright Review Committee - Modernising Copyright.  Unfortunately, the committee is somewhat restrained by EU law in the area, and there's only so much it can do within the confines of EU law.  It is worrying that intellectual property was elevated to the level of a fundamental right in the EU Charter of Fundamental Rights (see Article 17(2)).  Hopefully this will be interpreted in a benign manner by the courts but we can't be sure.  Don't get me wrong - I am not opposed to copyright but I'm concerned about maximalist application of copyright without due regard to rights of users and consumers.

A flavour of thoughts from other speakers (roughly paraphrased):

Alfred Moore:
Recently, there has been a neoliberal rejection of democracy altogether, an emphasis on the free market and the consumer.  There is a disdain for democracy, but we need democratic principles to be to the forefront.

Karlin Lillington:
Data retention laws allow a shocking level of surveillance, akin to giving the keys to your house to the Gardaí.  For human rights defenders (e.g. in Pakistan), anonymity is crucial.  See www.bytesforall.pk.
Engineers and scientists need to learn how to code for human rights and code for society.  There's now a Tech Defenders Network.

Theresa Reidy:
Social media has had a transformative effect on politics, but we need more research on its effects.  Can it be a force for citizen engagement?  Can it challenge the dominance of elites?  Twitter has transformed the dynamic of politics, with the possibility of public two-way conversations between politicians and voters.

John Naughton:
A lot of the surveillance of the web stems from 9/11.  The Snowden revelations have had a huge impact - will they lead to a crisis or merely a scandal?  Engineers need to know about ethics.  Engineers and architects designed the concentration camps in the second world war, but what of the ethical dimension?
Recommended books:  Tim Wu, The Master Switch and Dave Eggers, The Circle.

General Discussion:
How do we raise awareness of these issues?  Can they be included in secondary school curriculum, e.g. in Civic, Social and Personal Education?  At university level, can we ensure that ethical issues are considered?  One way of doing this is to find a staff member in a Department who is passionate on these issues.  Then, they can include technical activities in a module (not necessarily a specific module on ethics) which raise awareness, e.g. set students a task to investigate privacy breaches by apps.
Historical perspectives are vital - people need to be able to see what happened with previous new technologies; previous abuses of power; previous political developments.
Literature and arts shine a light on these areas, e.g. E.M. Forster's 'The Machine Stops' (1909).

Copyright Law in the Educational Context

Louise Crowley and I put together a talk on Copyright Law in an Educational Context which we gave here in UCC yesterday.

Here are Louise's slides:

Copyright law in the Educational Context Part 1 (Louise Crowley) from Darius Whelan

These were my slides:

Copyright Law in the Educational Context (Darius Whelan part) from Darius Whelan