Events in May 2010

Other events are listed at www.irishlaw.org/events/


Wed.5 May 2010:
Practical Implications of the Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009 - Dublin
http://bit.ly/cZj88o

Fri.7 May 2010:
Using international law: the European Social Charter and UN treaty body complaints procedures - Dublin
http://bit.ly/flac-7May2010

Sat.8 May 2010:
Medical Negligence: Recent Developments Impacting on Practice - Trinity College Dublin
http://www.tcd.ie/Law/Events/

Wed.12 May 2010:
Seminar on the Civil Partnership Bill 2009 - Irish Women Lawyers Association, Dublin
http://www.iwla.ie/seminars.htm

10-14 May 2010:
Mediation Training for Family Lawyers - Dublin Solicitors Bar Association
http://bit.ly/alLq45

Fri.14 May 2010:
Symposium: Towards a Gender Recognition Framework for Ireland - Cork
http://www.ucc.ie/en/ccjhr/fullstory,97981,en.html

Fri.14 May 2010:
Legal Education Symposium - University of Limerick
http://tinyurl.com/legaled-14may10

Sat.15 May 2010:
Trial by Media- Media and the Criminal Law - Irish Criminal Bar Association Conference
http://www.icba.ie/news-events/

Sat.15 May 2010:
Probate and Succession: Recent Developments Impacting on Legal Practice - Trinity College Dublin
http://www.tcd.ie/Law/Events/

Wed. 19 May 2010:
Annual Human Rights Lecture 2010 - Law Society, Dublin - Mr Morris Dees
http://www.lawsociety.ie/pages/Events/Annual-Human-Rights-Lecture-2010/

Thu.20 May 2010:
Launch of Irish Human Rights Law Review - Dublin
http://bit.ly/ihrlr-launch

Thu.20 May 2010:
Re-conceptualising Fair Trial Rights for the 21st Century - Queen's University Belfast
http://www.law.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofLaw/NewsandEvents/Events/

Fri.21 May 2010:
Expanding Equality Protections in Goods and Services: Irish and EU Perspectives - Equality Authority conference, Dublin
http://www.equality.ie/index.asp?locID=317&docID=854

24 May-4 June 2010:
International and Comparative Disability Law: Global & Regional Perspectives - Summer School at NUI Galway
http://www.nuigalway.ie/cdlp/summer_school/welcome.html

Fri.28 May 2010:
Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners Ireland Annual Conference - Restructuring Family Affairs in 2010 - Dublin
http://www.step.ie/newsevents.php?id=81

Sat.29 May 2010:
Schools and the Law 2010: Coping with New Challenges - Trinity College Dublin
http://www.tcd.ie/Law/Events/

Follow Irish Law Events on Twitter - http://twitter.com/irishlawevents

This blog has moved

This blog is now located at http://irishlawblog.blogspot.com.
You will be automatically redirected in 30 seconds, or you may click here.

For feed subscribers, please update your feed subscriptions to
http://irishlawblog.blogspot.com/feeds/posts/default.

(If you are subscribing via feedburner, there is no need to update your feed as I have changed the feedburner settings.)

The reason for the change is that Blogger is discontinuing support for publication of blogs via FTP from 1 May 2010.

Forthcoming Legal Events

Mon.22 March 2010:
Irish Prison Law and the ECHR - Dublin
http://www.iprt.ie/contents/1583

Wed.24 March 2010:
Family Law and the EU - Irish Society for European Law - Dublin
http://www.isel.ie/index.php?option=com_gigcal&Itemid=60

Wed. 24 March 2010:
Positive Obligations and the European Convention on Human Rights - Queen's University Belfast
http://www.law.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofLaw/NewsandEvents/Events/

29-31 March 2010:
Association of Law Teachers Annual Conference - Cambridge
http://www.lawteacher.ac.uk/events/?id=18

29-30 March 2010:
British and Irish Law, Education and Technology Association (BILETA) Conference 2010 - Vienna
http://www.univie.ac.at/RI/BILETA2010/

Fri.2 April 2010:
Closing Date for Call for Papers, Fourth Legal Education Symposium, University of Limerick

School of Law
University of Limerick

FOURTH LEGAL EDUCATION SYMPOSIUM

Call for Papers

Dear Colleagues,

The Fourth Legal Education Symposium will be hosted by University of Limerick on Friday, 14th May 2010.

In addition to the plenary sessions, we will have some interesting workshops, as is usual at the symposia.

There are eight topics below and I welcome your proposals for papers and contributions in respect of these. Those themes which inspire most interest will run as workshops.

Each presenter should anticipate a delivery time of approximately 15 minutes, to leave some additional time for questions and discussion.

The possible themes are:

Interdisciplinary law degrees
Clinical legal education

E-learning
Integration of teaching and research

Law teacher as mentor
Law for non-law students

Engaging students with the curriculum
Undergraduate legal writing

Interested parties should submit an abstract of their presentation before Friday 2nd April. The abstract should consist of a 300-500 word description of content and be sent to sinead.eaton@ul.ie .

Holmes O’Malley Sexton, Solicitors have kindly agreed to sponsor the Fourth Legal Education Symposium.

Fri-Sat.9-10 Apr.2010:
Law Society Annual Conference - Kilkenny
http://tinyurl.com/lawsoc-kilkenny

Fri-Sat.9-10 Apr.2010:
Corporations and Armed Conflict: The Role of International Law - NUI Galway
http://www.nuigalway.ie/human_rights/upcomingconferences.html

Mon.12 April 2010:
The Arbitration Act 2010 - Dublin
http://www.arbitration.ie/events.php?pid=viewevent&event_id=49

Fri.16 April 2010:
Public interest law in action: using law to face current challenges - Dublin
http://bit.ly/flac-16apr2010

Fri.16 April 2010:
Deadline for call for papers: The Children’s Convention at 21: The Rights of the Child Come of Age? - University of Ulsetr (Magee)
http://www.socsci.ulster.ac.uk/law/conf1/


Sat. 17 April 2010:
Symposium on Jurisprudence and Legal Theory - University College Cork
http://tinyurl.com/juris-cork-2010

Wed.21 April 2010:
Fatherhood, Law and Personal Life: Rethinking Debates about Fathers and Law - Inaugural Annual Law and Society Lecture, School of Law and Government, Dublin City University
http://bit.ly/dcu-apr-2010

Thu.22 Apr.'10:
Law and the Environment Conference - University College Cork
http://www.ucc.ie/en/lawsite/eventsandnews/events/

Fri.23 April 2010:
Financial Services Update: Regulation and Acquisitions - Irish Centre for European Law - Dublin
http://www.icel.ie/events_currentprogramme.php

Sat.24 April 2010:
International and Comparative Perspectives on Employment and Disability Law - NUI Galway
http://www.nuigalway.ie/cdlp/ICPED/welcome.html

Thu.29 Apr.'10
Borders of Justice: Locating the Law in Times of Transition - UCC Centre for Criminal Justice and Human Rights Postgraduate Conference 2010 - University College Cork
http://www.ucc.ie/en/ccjhr/

Sat.1 May 2010:
Deadline for Call for Papers - 'Subjects Before the Law: Membership, Recognition and the Religious Dimensions of Women's Citizenship - Cork
http://www.ucc.ie/en/ccjhr/fullstory,97939,en.html

3-4 May 2010:
Annual Seminar on EU Law 2010 - ERA, Trier, Germany
http://www.era.int

Fri.7 May 2010:
Using international law: the European Social Charter and UN treaty body complaints procedures - Dublin
http://bit.ly/flac-7May2010

Fri.14 May 2010:
Symposium: Towards a Gender Recognition Framework for Ireland - Cork
http://www.ucc.ie/en/ccjhr/fullstory,97981,en.html

Fri.14 May 2010:
Legal Education Symposium - University of Limerick
http://tinyurl.com/legaled-14may10

Sat.15 May 2010:
Trial by Media- Media and the Criminal Law - Irish Criminal Bar Association Conference
http://www.icba.ie/news-events/

Fri.28 May 2010:
Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners Ireland Annual Conference - Restructuring Family Affairs in 2010 - Dublin
http://www.step.ie/newsevents.php?id=81

Thu.-Fri. 3-4 June 2010:
Current Problematic Issues in the Law of the Sea - Trinity College Dublin
http://www.tcd.ie/Law/Events/LawoftheSea.php

Thu.-Fri. 3-4 June 2010:
Mastering Law: Conflicts, Challenges and Solutions in Today's Society - N.U.I Galway Law Society Conference, Faculty of Law
http://www.masteringlaw.org

10-12 June 2010:
British and Irish Association of Law Librarians (BIALL) Annual Conference - Brighton
http://www.biall.org.uk/events.php

17-19 June 2010:
Regulation in the Age of Crisis: ECPR Standing Group on Regulatory Governance Biennial Conference - Dublin
http://regulation.upf.edu/index.php?id=dublin_2010

19-20 June 2010:
The Children’s Convention at 21: The Rights of the Child Come of Age? - University of Ulster (Magee)
http://www.socsci.ulster.ac.uk/law/conf1/

Mon.-Tue. 21-22 June 2010:
North-South Criminology Conference - University of Ulster
http://www.socsci.ulster.ac.uk/policy/conference/

5-23 July 2010:
E Law Summer Institute 2010 - University College Cork Faculty of Law
http://www.ucc.ie/en/lawsite/students/elsi/

Thu.9 Sep.2010:
Subjects Before the Law: Membership, Recognition and the Religious Dimensions of Women's Citizenship - Cork
http://www.ucc.ie/en/ccjhr/fullstory,97939,en.html

13-16 Sept.2010:
Society of Legal Scholars Annual Conference 2010 - Southampton
http://www.legalscholars.ac.uk/southampton/index.cfm

Dublin Archdiocese Report and the Law

Does the law need to be changed as a result of the Dublin Archdiocese Report on Child Sexual Abuse (the Murphy report, 2009)?

The report includes the following at pages 104 and onwards (edited):

"6.21 The Child Care Act 1991 was the first Act to place statutory responsibility on the health boards to promote the welfare of children not receiving adequate care and protection. Its only reference to child sexual abuse was to provide that sexual abuse of children would be among the criteria for seeking court orders.

"6.22 The stated purpose of the Child Care Act 1991 is “to provide for the care and protection of children and for related matters. Section 3 of the Act places a statutory duty on health boards to promote the welfare of children who are not receiving adequate care and protection. This section came into effect in December 1992....

"6.24 Section 69 provides that “The Minister may give general directions to a health board in relation to the performance of the functions assigned to it by or under this Act and the health board shall comply with any such direction”. No such direction has been issued.

"6.25 As is pointed out in the Ferns Report, this new obligation was not accompanied by new powers to intervene in specific situations. When introducing the Bill in 1988, the Minister for Health talked about the “imaginative use” of the new provisions. Legal provisions need to be clear and unambiguous with little scope for, and no requirement to use, imagination.

"6.26 As already stated, the Health Act 1970 did not enumerate all the functions of the health boards. The Health Act 2004 which established the Health Service Executive (HSE) is drafted in a similar way: it confers on the HSE those functions which were formerly carried out by the health boards. The Commission considers that it would be preferable if there was a clear unambiguous listing of the statutory functions and powers of the HSE so that there could be no doubt about the extent of its power to intervene in child protection issues.

What is the role of the health authorities in relation to clerical child sex abuse?

"6.27 Under the Child Care Act 1991, the health boards, and now the HSE, have a general duty to promote the welfare of children who are not receiving adequate care and protection. The Commission agrees with the Ferns Report analysis of the powers of the health boards. The Ferns Report takes the view that the powers conferred on the health boards by the 1991 Act are designed to protect a child from an abusive family situation. It is the parents or guardians who are responsible for dealing with the matter in cases of third party or extra-familial abuse. The Ferns Report also points out that the powers available to the health boards under the 1991 Act are not significantly greater than those available under the 1908 Act.

"6.28 Notification to the health board of alleged abuse by priests does not seem to serve any useful purpose if the health boards do not have any power to do anything about it.

"6.29 The method by which the boards recorded such notifications, that is, by the name of the child, while appropriate for family abuse, is not appropriate for extra-familial abuse. There is no point in recording alleged abuse by a person who is in a public position, for example, a priest, a teacher, sports coach, by the name of the abused person. This information needs to be recorded by the name of the alleged abuser and by the school, parish, sports club or other relevant body. The Commission is not aware of any legal reason why this information could not be collated and classified in this way by the HSE. For the avoidance of doubt, the Commission considers that the HSE should be given specific statutory power to maintain such a record.

"6.30 The Commission is not suggesting that it would be appropriate for the HSE to have the power to intervene where the child is being appropriately cared for by parents or guardians. It is concerned about the lack of clear power to collate and maintain relevant information and to share that information with other relevant authorities.

"6.31 In the case of M.Q. v Robert Gleeson and others [1997] IEHC 26; [1998] 4 IR 85, Mr Justice Barr took the view that health boards had an implied right and duty to communicate information about a possible child abuser if, by failing to do so, the safety of some children might be put at risk. Before making such a communication, the health boards had certain duties to the alleged perpetrator. This judgement has been viewed quite differently by the Ferns Report and the health boards/HSE. The Ferns Report was clearly concerned about the legislative basis for this wide ranging duty to communicate while the health boards/HSE concerns relate to restrictions on their ability to communicate because of the requirements to inform the perpetrator. The Ferns Report took the view that the only power available to health boards to inform parties that allegations of child sexual abuse have been made against a particular person is “one inferred from the wide ranging objective of child protection” imposed on health boards by the Child Care Act 1991. It went on to express the view that the implication of such a duty on health boards without any express legislative powers is an issue which should be carefully considered by the Legislature. The HSE told the Commission that the judgement in this case (generally known as the Barr judgement) had “significant implication for the management of child sexual abuse cases by the Health Boards/HSE. It provided that the Health Boards/HSE (except in cases where a child is believed to be at immediate risk of suspected child sexual abuse) before passing on any information with regard to a suspected child abuser to a third party, must give the allegations in writing to the alleged perpetrator. The alleged perpetrator must then be given the opportunity to respond in person to the HSE before the HSE makes its decision on whether or not to pass on the information to a third party. Recent legal advice is that the opportunity to appeal the decision of the HSE to pass on information to a third party must also be given to the alleged perpetrator.

"6.32 The Commission considers that the law should be clarified in order to confer on the HSE a duty to communicate to relevant parties, such as schools and sports clubs, concerns about a possible child abuser. The extent of the HSE obligation to notify the alleged perpetrator, if any, should also be clarified."

The Taoiseach has responded as follows:

"The Commission's Report expresses concern about the statutory powers of the Health Service Executive to deal with child sexual abuse by non-family members. Minister Andrews' Office is consulting further with the Office of the Attorney General to seek clarity in this regard. However, in the wake of the publication of the Ferns Report in 2005, legal advice was sought from the Attorney General in relation to the powers of Health Boards/HSE to investigate and deal with instances of Child Abuse perpetrated outside the family. The Attorney General was not of the view that the HSE's powers under Section 3 of the Child Care Act (1991) are limited to cases of intra family abuse. The HSE has stated that it responds to all allegations of child sex abuse regardless of the circumstances of the allegation."

This seems an inadequate response to the specific points raised in the Murphy report about the Child Care Act 1991 and the legislation concerning the powers of the HSE.

Forthcoming Events

The list of forthcoming Irish Law events has been updated. The full list appears here. To subscribe to the Irish Law site e-mail updates list, fill in the form here. Sample events on the list:

Thu.19 Nov.'09:
Mental Health in Prison - Dublin
http://www.iprt.ie/contents/1462

Sat. 21 Nov.'09:
Economic, Social and Cultural Rights – Making States Accountable - Annual Human Rights Conference of the IHRC and the Law Society of Ireland, Dublin
http://www.ihrc.ie/home/wnarticle.asp?NID=241&T=N&Print=

Wed.25 Nov.'09:
Constitutional Courts and the Lisbon Treaty - ISEL 7th Annual Brian Walsh Memorial Lecture, Dublin
http://www.isel.ie/index.php?option=com_gigcal&Itemid=60

Thu.26 Nov.'09:
ECHR Update: The Recent Use of the ECHR in the Courts, Procedure, Remedies and Analysis - Dublin
http://www.icel.ie/events_currentprogramme.php

Thu.26 Nov.2009:
A Comparatist’s Analysis of the Convergence of Legal Systems - Dublin
http://tinyurl.com/iscl-1

Thu.26 Nov. 2009:
National Asset Management Agency - UCD Commercial Law Centre, Dublin
http://www.ucd.ie/iccls/programs.htm

Fri. 27 Nov.2009:
Assessing Liability in Asset Management - Placing the Legal Principles in their Financial Context - UCD Commercial Law Centre, Dublin
http://www.ucd.ie/iccls/programs.htm

Sat. 28 Nov.'09:
Aspects of Asylum and Immigration Law - The Bar Council of Ireland, Dublin
http://tinyurl.com/lawlib111

Sat.28 Nov.'09
Recent Developments in Irish Defamation Law, Including the Defamation Act 2009 - School of Law, Trinity College Dublin, CPD Conference
www.tcd.ie/Law/Events

Mon.30 Nov.'09:
The Intel Decision - ISEL Competition Law Forum, Dublin
http://www.isel.ie

Mon.30 Nov.'09:
Launch of IPRT report on Detention of Children - Dublin
http://www.iprt.ie/contents/1457

Tue.1 Dec.'09:
FLAC Third Annual Dave Ellis Memorial Lecture
http://tinyurl.com/flac3rd

Wed.2 Dec.2009:
Land and Conveyancing Law Reform Act 2009 - UCD Commercial Law Centre, Dublin
http://www.ucd.ie/iccls/programs.htm

Thu.-Fri.3-4 Dec.2009:
Police Governance and Accountability, Limerick
http://www2.ul.ie/pdf/375079620.doc

Thu.-Fri.3-4 Dec.'09:
Intensive Course on Planning Law (Including Developments on Strategic Infrastructure, Habitats and the New Planning Bill 2009) - Centre for Environmental Law, School of Law, Trinity College Dublin, CPD Course
http://www.tcd.ie/Law/Events

Sat.5 Dec.'09:
Meeting the Challenges - New Ways of Doing Business. Speakers: K Erwin, Mediators'Institute of Ireland; J Maguire Collaborative Law; P Marrinan Quinn SC Conflict & Dispute Resolution Diploma TCD: T O'Riordan Manager Public Interest Law Project FLAC. Irish Women Lawyers' Association, Dublin.
http://www.iwla.ie

Sat.5 Dec.'09:
Tort Litigation: Recent Developments - School of Law, Trinity College Dublin, CPD Conference
http://www.tcd.ie/Law/Events

Fri.11 Dec.'09:
Intensive Course on Waste Law including the New Waste Directive - Centre for Environmental Law and Policy, School of Law, Trinity College Dublin, CPD Course
http://www.tcd.ie/Law/Events

5-6 March 2010:
Irish Society of Comparative Law Annual Conference, Belfast
http://tinyurl.com/iscl-1

An Bord Snip and the Legal System

Colin Scott has a useful blog post on An Bord Snip's proposals regarding the legal system here.
Join in the lively discussion in the comments section.

Data Retention Bill

Both the Irish Times and the Irish Examiner report this morning that the Data Retention Bill is due to to be published today, when it was actually published on Friday.

Recent Short Items (11 July 2009)

Data Retention Bill published - http://bit.ly/qNXt3

Employment Agency Regulation Bill published http://bit.ly/E0GDb (Press Release); http://bit.ly/oaXkB (Bill)

Defamation Bill passed (Eoin O'Dell) - http://bit.ly/odell1

Conor O'Mahony questions constitutionality of Criminal Justice (Amendment) Bill http://bit.ly/iTKI

Ruling sounds death-knell for public access to wills http://bit.ly/10BQe3

Irish language legal challenge dismissed (via @gaelport): http://tinyurl.com/lg5cbw

Lawyers' letter protesting new Criminal Justice Bill http://short.ie/pros (Via @ubfid)

Court refused discovery to Monica Leech http://bit.ly/15zFpn

Ongoing legal issues re anti-acne drug Roaccutane http://bit.ly/1xaqr

McDowell - lawyers should revisit the doctrine of the separation of powers http://bit.ly/915rr

Call for apology to survivors of Magdalen laundries http://bit.ly/qoLDn

FLAC - Proposed legislation on debt enforcement leaves "a mountain of reform left to climb" - http://bit.ly/Du0jG

Search engines and safe harbours (T.J. McIntyre) http://bit.ly/1a0jot

Trial by Jury to be removed for organised crime offences - Blog post by Fiona Donson - http://bit.ly/12CtSx

Fixed Term Employment Contracts - Review of the Law http://bit.ly/10PGm9

Judge queries value of orders against debtors http://bit.ly/auTfK

Fisherman opposed to laying of gas pipeline by Shell loses court challenge to detention http://bit.ly/mQZwU

New law to allow courts to jail debtors who refuse to pay http://bit.ly/Akap8

Full text of Civil Partnership Bill http://bit.ly/1145r9

Civil Partnership Bill published http://tinyurl.com/kr7kn5

Shannon used for torture flights: Government must acknowledge and investigate (via @AmnestyIRL) http://u.mavrev.com/eeq6

Challenge to Law Society on exam http://bit.ly/15bFBd

Greens say Civil Partnership Bill does not go far enough http://bit.ly/RO12i

Woman with prosthetic arm forced to work 'out of sight' in storeroom http://tinyurl.com/n4l3c7

@dariuswirl

Draft Irish Creative Commons Licence available for public discussion

The draft of CC BY-NC-SA adapted to Irish law is now in public discussion. The public discussion is a key part of Creative Commons’ license porting project. It is an opportunity for you, content creators and licence users, to engage in the drafting process and give your input in this collaborative effort. We warmly invite you to join CC Ireland’s discussion list and share your comments with local and international legal experts.

See also this posting on the Creative Commons News blog.

Tipperary Mental Health Inquiry

There have been various media reports recently concerning the report of a Mental Health Commission inquiry into St. Michael’s Unit, South Tipperary General Hospital, Clonmel and St. Luke’s Hospital, Clonmel. (See for example Irish Times ; RTÉ ; Irish Mental Health Coalition press release).

The inquiry follows a similar report on the Central Mental Hospital in 2006.

The Tipperary report made findings which included the following: A high number of residents have sustained fractures; wards were unnecessarily locked; seclusion was being used too often; patients were forced to wear nightclothes during the day; there were no comprehensive needs assessments or care plans for residents.

A number of legal points arise from the report. For example, it is significant that the Mental Health Commission (press release) has proposed to attach conditions to the continued operation of the two approved centres requiring the Health Service Executive to produce a plan with precise timescales to address breaches in regulations, rules and codes of practice found by the Inspectorate of Mental Health Services during its inspection in late 2008. The Commission would require a quarterly report on the achievement of targets set in the plan.

Under the Mental Treatment Act 1945, the Inspector of Mental Hospitals could issue reports which were critical of mental health facilities, but there was no direct process for requiring improvement in those facilities. The new procedure under the Mental Health Act 2001 contains a process for improvement, by way of attaching conditions to registration, and the possibility of removal of a centre from the register. The CEO has said that the Commission is taking a "graduated response" approach (Annual Report 2007, p.8)

The report also highlights the over-use of locked wards. For example: "Although very few residents were detained under the Mental Health Act 2001 several ward doors were locked and staff referred to residents being ‘allowed out’ or given ‘parole’, when they should have been free to come and go as they wished." (para.13.1.3)

The problem of de facto detention of "voluntary" patients is as yet unresolved in Ireland. The European Court of Human Rights has found in H.L. v United Kingdom that certain deprivations of liberty of 'informal' patients in England breached Article 5 . Ireland urgently needs new legislation to close the so-called "Bournewood gap", but the scheme of the Mental Capacity Bill contains no proposals on this topic.

As Fergus Finlay rightly said in his RTE Drivetime radio column, if this was a story about animals, it would have exploded all over the news.

Course for Irish speakers at King's Inns 2009

www.kingsinns.ie/website/prospective_students/lawyerlinguist.htm

Cumann Onórach Óstaí an Rí

The Honorable Society of King's Inns

Preparatory course for Irish speakers who wish to apply for lawyer-linguist positions in the European institutions

The aim of the course
As a result of Irish having attained status as an official language of the European Union, the European institutions will be recruiting lawyer-linguists in the years ahead who have an excellent level of competency in Irish. The positions will be available in Brussels - in the European Parliament, the European Commission, and the Council of the European Union - with excellent salaries and work conditions. The main responsibility of those working as lawyer-linguists will be to examine draft laws which have been translated to Irish in relation to legal and linguistic accuracy.
The aim of this course, which is being run by King's Inns in conjunction with Gaelchultúr Teoranta, is to prepare the participants for the entrance exams which will take place in the future in order to fill the above-mentioned vacancies.
Important note: The course providers, King's Inns and Gaelchultúr Teoranta, cannot guarantee that participants will gain positions as lawyer-linguists on completion of this training course.

Course dates and venue
There will be a total of 14 weeks' tuition provided during this training course.

The schedule is given below.

8 June - 7 August (Part 1 of the course)

10 - 21 August (Reading weeks)

24 August - 3 October (Part 2 of the course, end of course exam)

Participants will attend a three-hour class (9.30 a.m. - 12.30 p.m.) every day, Monday to Friday. They will have an opportunity to do some of their homework online. It is not advisable to undertake another course while attending this training course or to work on a part-time basis.

Entry requirements
This course will be suitable for those who have a law degree or a professional legal qualification (BL or Solr), as well as a good standard of spoken and written Irish (grade A in the honours Irish paper in the Leaving Certificate, for example). Applicants must also have good computer skills.
All applicants will be required to undergo a language assessment test and the results of this assessment will be taken into consideration when places are being allocated on the course. This assessment, in which the focus will be on accuracy in Irish, will take place between 12.00 - 1.00 p.m. on Saturday, 23 May in King's Inns.

Deadline for applications

Applications must be received by King's Inns by 4.00 p.m. on Friday, 8 May 2009.

Two former participants

Here are the views of two students who have attended the preparatory course:

Órla Ní Riain

'I had a good standard of Irish from the Leaving Certificate but there were quite a few aspects of grammar that I was not familiar with. I managed to add greatly to my language skills during the course in King's Inns and to learn translation skills for the first time. I work in the European Court of Justice in Luxembourg now and I'm really enjoying the job. I intend spending some time working in Brussels in the future as well.'

Séamus Howard

'I was always interested in Irish and I wanted to get an opportunity to work through the medium of the language. I managed to attain a high standard of grammar during the course [in King's Inns] and I now have a one-year contract working as a lawyer-linguist in the Council of Europe. The work is challenging but I'm confident that I'll succeed in learning all the skills necessary to work in this area on a long-term basis.'

All classes will be held in King's Inns, Henrietta Street, Dublin 1.

Fee and subsistence stipend
This project is being funded by the Department of Community, Rural and Gaeltacht Affairs and participants will not be required to pay a course fee. A subsistence stipend of €300 per week (based on attendance) will be paid to those who attend the course. There will also be an accommodation allowance for those who do not normally live in Dublin and who must move to the city in order to attend the course.

Additional information
If you wish to receive further information or a copy of the application form, please contact Tom Macdonald in King's Inns. The application form may also be downloaded from the King's Inns website.

Email: tom.macdonald@kingsinns.ie

Postal address: Tom Macdonald,

Dean of the School of Law,

The Honorable Society of King's Inns,

Henrietta Street,

Dublin 1

Website: www.kingsinns.ie

www.kingsinns.ie/website/prospective_students/lawyerlinguist.htm

Law and the Environment 2009 - Cork, Thu. 23 April 2009

Thursday, 23 April 2009:
Law and the Environment 2009

7th Annual Conference for Environmental Professionals

Faculty of Law, University College Cork

 

This conference will be the seventh annual event at UCC and seeks to build on the success of previous events, at which more than two hundred environmental professionals have attended to hear from a panel of expert speakers in the area.  This event caters to a wide range of professionals, including the legal professions, policy-makers, regulators, environmental interest groups, local authorities, environmental consultants, industry, and environmental service providers, and provides an opportunity for the dissemination of information on the latest legislative and judicial developments, research results and evolving best practice in the area of Environmental Law.  It also provides a truly unique forum for the exchange of ideas among key figures and stakeholders on all sides of the environmental protection debate. This year’s programme includes specialist sessions on Climate Change, Enforcement of Environmental Law, Environmental Liability, and Infrastructure and Waste, with 15 expert speakers coming from across Ireland, Northern Ireland and the U.K.

 

Full conference schedule:
http://tinyurl.com/environ-23mar

 

Conference Convenor
Dr Owen McIntyre, Faculty of Law, UCC
Email o.mcintyre@ucc.ie
Tel 021 4902090

 

Conference Secretary
Email lawevents@ucc.ie
Tel 021 4903220

Continuing Professional Development
7 hours Group Study
Law Society General CPD Certificate of attendance will be issued

 

http://tinyurl.com/environ-23mar

 

 

Recent Short Items - 9 March 2009

Recent Short Items, from my Twitter Feed and Delicious Links:

New HIQA Nursing Home Standards - http://www.hiqa.ie Hopefully no more Leas Crosses (in long term)?

Another article by Karlin on data retention, featuring Richard H. and Ivana B. - http://tinyurl.com/djzbjz

Went to good Teaching and Learning talk by Kelly Coate - Screencast here: http://bit.ly/nairtl1

Ryanair v Bravofly - decision on Motions - http://tinyurl.com/ryan555

Elsevier new social networking tool - http://www.2collab.com - Tried it for a while today and not very impressed ...

BookMooch: exchange books and trade them, like a book swap or book barter
www.boomooch.com

JILT 2007 (1) Special Issue on Law, Education and Technology
http://www2.warwick.ac.uk/fac/soc/law/elj/jilt/2007_1

Sherwin Nuland on electroshock therapy Video on TED.com
www.ted.com/index.php/talks/sherwin_nuland_on_electroshock_therapy.html

Gapminder.org - For a fact based world view.
www.gapminder.org

Industrial Relations Research Trust
www.irrt.ie

IHRC Observations on Criminal Law (Insanity) Act 2006 (Amendment) Act 2008
www.ihrc.ie/documents/article.asp?NID=274&NCID=6&T=N&Print=

The Next Leap
http://nextleap.wordpress.com

Assorted Materials: Johnny Ryan (Blog)
http://johnnyryan.wordpress.com

Twitter Feed: www.twitter.com/dariusw/

Delicious Links: www.delicious.com/dariusw/

Events for next three weeks (from 9 March 2009)

Wednesday 11 March 2009:
"Judging Judges under the HRA 1998: A Reply to Keith Ewing" - Belfast
www.law.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofLaw/NewsandEvents/Events/

Thu. 12 March 2009:
Dr. Mia Swart, ’Judicial Lawmaking at the Ad Hoc Tribunals’ - Galway www.nuigalway.ie/human_rights/judges_as_lawmakers.html

Thu.-Fri. 12-13 March 2009:
Academy of European Law, Trier
Annual Conference on European Labour Law 2009
http://tinyurl.com/era1122

Friday, 13th March 2009:
Third Legal Education Symposium - UCD School of Law, Dublin
www.ucd.ie/law/newsevents/

Fri. 13 Mar. '09:
EUROJUST's Tasks and Objectives - Jarlath Spellman, EUROJUST, National Member for Ireland - Criminal Justice Seminar, School of Law, University of Limerick
Seminar Room A1052, 11 a.m. - 1 p.m.
All are welcome to attend. There is no fee.

Tue. 24 March 2009:
Update on Enduring Powers of Attorney - STEP, Dublin
www.step.ie/newsevents.php

Thu. 26 March 2009:
The Immigration, Residence and Protection Bill 2008 - implications for migrant women in Ireland - Irish Women Lawyers Association Seminar, Limerick
www.iwla.ie/seminars.htm

Other Events:
www.irishlaw.org/events/

Events RSS Feed:
http://feeds2.feedburner.com/irish-law-events

Mental Health Commission Panels

The Mental Health Commission is seeking applications for positions on the panels associated with the operation of Part 2 of the Mental Health Act 2001. The following panels are now open to applications:

• Chairpersons Mental Health Tribunals
• Consultant Psychiatrists Mental Health Tribunals
• Lay Members Mental Health Tribunals
• Consultant Psychiatrists Independent Medical Examinations
• Legal Representatives Mental Health Legal Aid Scheme

Closing date for receipt of application is 5.00 pm Friday 20 March 2009.

Information and Forms:http://www.mhcirl.ie/panels.htm

Mental Health Act 2001: Unresolved Issues

I've been waiting for the full decision in a mental health case from 31 October 2008 to appear on the courts.ie website, but there's no sign of it yet. I wrote an article for the Irish Times about this case on 4 November (full text here.)



Here are some extracts from the Irish Times article, with links:



The hasty enactment of the Mental Health Act 2008 ... has probably resolved the legal issues caused by the recent High Court case, but there are other related issues that remain unresolved. Mr Justice Bryan McMahon issued a significant ruling in the case of a woman who has been detained in St Patrick's Hospital since August 2007. Various legal issues arose regarding her detention. ...


[McMahon J. decided that a renewal order for a period not exceeding 12 months was void for uncertainty. However, he put a four-week stay on his order directing the patient's discharge.]


This whole affair raises questions as to the wording of the Mental Health Act 2001, and the forms specified by the Mental Health Commission. As Mr Justice McMahon pointed out, "the error in this case was prompted by the wording of the form used by the Commission". ....



As regards the wording of the Mental Health Act, a number of issues have arisen regarding the time limits, and these have led to the Commission issuing a 1,200-word guidance page on "Duration of Involuntary Admission and Renewal Orders". This guidance will need to be amended in the light of the recent court case. It may now be better to reword the Act so that the time limits operate in a more logical and streamlined manner....

...
It is noteworthy that a number of other significant issues remain unresolved and require urgent attention. For example, a patient who has their detention renewed for six months (for example), cannot apply to a Mental Health Tribunal for a review of their case during the six-month period, and must wait until the automatic review which will occur at the end of the six months, if the psychiatrist makes a renewal order. This is in spite of a clear ruling from the European Court of Human Rights in Rakevich v Russia in 2003, where it was stated that "the detainee's access to the judge should not depend on the good will of the detaining authority".


The 2001 Act provides that a person may be removed to an approved psychiatric centre by members of staff of the approved centre in certain circumstances (s.13). These "assisted admissions" are often carried out by an independent contractor, rather than members of staff. In the R.L. case in 2008, it was held by the Supreme Court that the use of an independent contractor was a breach of the Act, although the patient's detention was upheld. It appears that such breaches of the Act have continued, in spite of the legal difficulties which they raise.
There are serious doubts about the burden of proof in Circuit Court appeals, where the patient is required to prove that he or she does not have a mental disorder (s.19), even though such a burden would appear to be contrary to the European Convention.


In addition, the powers of Mental Health Tribunals are unduly restricted by the 2001 Act. They may not consider questions of compliance with the sections on removal to the approved centre (s.13), referral of the admission order to the tribunal (s.17), transfer of a patient to hospital (s.22) or compliance with the Mental Treatment Act 1945.


The time has come for a fundamental review of the Mental Health Act 2001 in light of the Irish case law to date, experience in the operation of the Act and recent decisions of the European Court of Human Rights. Reference may also be made to the Mental Health Commission's Report on the Operation of Part 2 of the Mental Health Act 2001 (2008) and the Department of Health and Children's Review of the Operation of the Mental Health Act 2001: Findings and Conclusions (2007).

Joseph Raz lecture at Trinity College Dublin on Wed. 25 Feb. 2009

Irish Jurisprudence Society Annual Public Lecture

Joseph Raz, Research Professor and an Emeritus Fellow of Balliol
College, Oxford and Professor of Law, Columbia University, will
deliver the Irish Jurisprudence Society's first annual public lecture
in jurisprudence on Wednesday 25 February 2009.

The lecture will commence at 7 p.m..

The title of Professor Raz's lecture is 'Innovative Interpretation'

Professor Desmond M Clarke will be chairing this event.

The venue is Trinity College Dublin, in the Lloyd Institute Building
(the Lloyd Institute is near the O'Reilly Institute and beside the new
Science Gallery, for map see:
http://www.tcd.ie/Law/JosephRaz/MapLloydInstitute.pdf).

The lecture is free to attend, but booking is required. Email: lawevent@tcd.ie

Details of this event are posted on the web at the following pages:

http://www.irjursoc.org/annual-public-lecture/

http://www.tcd.ie/Law/JosephRaz/index.php

This event is funded by the Long Room Hub Initiative, Trinity College Dublin.

Juries in Rape Cases - Wed. 18 Feb., University of Limerick

Wed. 18 Feb. 2009

Criminal Justice Seminar

"Juries in Rape Cases"

Conor Hanly, NUI Galway

3-4 p.m., Schuman Building, Room SG18.

All are welcome to attend.

Criminal Justice Seminar, Centre for Criminal Justice, School of Law, University of Limerick.

Information from Dr Gerard Coffey, Centre for Criminal Justice, School of Law, University of Limerick.

Email Address: Ger.Coffey@ul.ie

 

 

 

 

Call for Papers: Irish Criminology Conference - UCD, 15-16 June 2009

 

UCD Institute of Criminology

Fifth Irish Criminology Conference
15 and 16 June 2009

 

Dear Colleagues,

 

The UCD Institute of Criminology will host the Fifth Irish Criminology Conference on Monday 15 and Tuesday 16 June 2009. Papers are invited from research students, academics and policy makers in the fields of criminology and criminal justice.  Please forward a title and abstract (no more than 200 words) to criminology@ucd.ie by 30 April. A final decision on the selection of papers will be made by 11 May.
There is no registration fee for the conference.
A number of bursaries will be available to cover travel expenses for students from outside Dublin who wish to attend and present a paper but would be otherwise unable to do so. Those wishing to be considered for a bursary should make this clear when submitting their abstract.
I would be grateful If you would pass on these details to any Interested parties.

With best wishes

Professor Ian O'Donnell, Director, UCD Institute of Criminology
University College Dublin

http://www.ucd.ie/criminol/

 

 

 

 

Vacancy: Equality and Rights Alliance Campaign Coordinator

JOB DESCRIPTION
ERA Campaign Coordinator
http://www.eracampaign.org

Introduction

The Equality & Rights Alliance (ERA) is an alliance of 79 civil society groups seeking to ensure the promotion and enhancement of human rights, equality and social justice in Ireland. ERA formed in August 2008, following media reports of a proposed merger of five equality and human rights bodies in Ireland. Budget 2009 did not see the amalgamation of the five bodies, or indeed the full amalgamation of the Equality Authority and the Irish Human Rights Commission, which emerged as a more realistic merger possibility. However, savage budget cuts of 43% to the Equality Authority, coupled with fast-tracked decentralization, and 24% to the Irish Human Rights Commission rendered them unable to carry out their remit in any meaningful way. The ERA campaign has involved media communications, political lobbying and building of the Alliance itself as a strong voice of civil society organisations committed to a strong equality and human rights infrastructure in Ireland.

The ERA Campaign has now received funding to develop the Campaign into 2009; a planning day to set out an action plan for the alliance has taken place. The action plan envisages the continuation of lobbying and communications as well as capacity building for organisations locally and regionally to engage in lobbying actions. It also foresees the employment of a campaign coordinator.

JOB DESCRIPTION
Title: ERA Campaign Coordinator
Location: Dublin
Responsible to: ERA Steering Committee (delegated person)

Relationships: ERA Chairperson, Communications Adviser, ERA members

The main purpose of the Campaign Coordinator is to coordinate the effective implementation of the ERA Campaign.
ERA seeks a person with significant project management experience to co-ordinate the ERA Campaign, working with the Steering Committee to implement the lobbying, communication and alliance-building strategies of ERA.

Key Tasks

Given the nature of the Campaign, the post will require the Campaign Coordinator to be flexible and undertake duties, on occasion, in addition to or in lieu of those listed below. Under the direction of the ERA steering group, the Campaign Coordinator will:
- Provide administrative support to the Alliance, including preparing written correspondence, reports and funding applications.
- Coordinate general campaign activities including lobbying, protests, meetings with political parties, letter writing to TDs, etc.
- Organise logistics of ERA meetings, and public events as agreed e.g. advocacy training days, seminars, round-tables, conferences.
- Coordinate the delivery of the ERA communication strategy with the Communications Adviser
- Be the day-to-day spokesperson for ERA, linking with the Communications Adviser and the Chair
- Handle internal communications with ERA members, in liaison with the Steering Committee- Coordinate and oversee relevant research projects or polls commissioned by ERA, in liaison with the Communications Adviser and the Steering Committee
- Act as the key point of information for the ERA Campaign, handling enquiries from individuals, members of ERA, politicians and members of the public. Press queries will be referred by the Campaign Coordinator to the ERA's Communications Adviser and/or to other ERA spokespersons agreed in advance
- Be responsible for information management including the ERA website, telephone and email queries
- Maintain and update the content of the ERA website, including member lists and other relevant database lists and reports, and ensuring that up to date / relevant campaign actions are regularly featured on the web site pages
- Liaise with organisations and networks working for similar objectives, nationally and internationally
- Account to the Steering Committee for the day-to-day administration of the ERA's budget
- Attend monthly support and supervision sessions, providing written reports documenting work activities and outcomes
- Support fundraising activities, as required
- Make reports for Funders, as required.

Person Specification
Experience and Knowledge

Essential
- Experience of running office, administration and financial systems
- Experience in supporting communications strategies (inclusive of handling and referring media enquiries, building strategic alliances and information management)
- Experience of leading projects and proven success in delivery
- Knowledge of the human rights, equality and/or social justice sector in Ireland, preferably coupled with some experience of human rights, equality and /or social justice campaigning (in Ireland or elsewhere)

Desirable
- Experience of representing an organisation to the public or media
- Experience in conference and event management
- Experience of successful campaigning to achieve social change

Competencies
Essential
- Ability to manage a virtual office; familiarity with IT applications sufficient to update and maintain web site content and management of web blogs
- "Can do" attitude
- results driven, commitment and energy 'to go the extra mile'
- Demonstrated ability to think strategically and to identify opportunities
- Excellent interpersonal and communications skills
- Ability to work in partnership with individuals and organisations across sectors
- Proven problem solving skills
- Ability to prioritise and plan activities in a wide ranging work load
- Ability to communicate clearly and transfer complex information in a concise and accessible form
- Ability to draft briefing notes and other papers, as well as minutes of meetings
- Ability to maintain a high level of social, organisational and professional standards in job-related activities

Salary: Equivalent to HEO Standard Scale (€46,558 - €59,097)
Duration: this is a 6 month contract initially, with a probationary period of up to one month, which may be extended.
Application by CV and covering letter by email to recruitment@eracampaign.org or by post to

Equality & Rights Alliance Co-ordinator, DMG Business Centre, 9-13 Blackhall Place, Dublin 7
Deadline for Applications: Friday 6th February 2009
Shortlisting: Monday 9th February 2009
Interviews: 17th and/or 18th February 2009

http://www.eracampaign.org

Travellers in Clare - Equal Status Act 2000

An interesting recent case under the Equal Status Act 2000:

Mongans v Clare County Council - DEC-S2008-039
http://www.equalitytribunal.ie/index.asp?locID=140&docID=1844

The facts are complex, but it involves a series of cases brought by members of the travelling community surrounding the service provided by Clare County Council arising from the travellers’ applications for housing and related accommodation needs and linked issues.

In an unusual move, the Equality Officer (sitting as the Equality tribunal) required that the travellers attend for a series of "callovers/hearings" which would take place on two particular days. When families did not turn up, even though their representative was present, the Officer decided that no prima facie evidence of discrimination had been provided and therefore that the claims failed.

The travellers were represented by Ms Heather Rosen, and the Tribunal went on to decide that Ms Rosen had obstructed and impeded its investigation and hearing of the cases. The Tribunal was of the view that Ms. Rosen had wilfully abused the Tribunal process and had sought to manipulate the manner in which she carried out her investigative and decision making functions. The end result was that Ms Rosen was ordered to pay expenses of €200 in the main case and a large number of similar cases. (See particularly Paras. 6.1 to 6.13).

The decision raises important procedural issues as to whether the Tribunal took sufficient account of the difficulty involved for a representative in gathering together a large number of claimants who are members of the travelling community for a callover/hearing. The whole idea of a "callover/hearing" seems strange in any event. There is a reference in the decision [para.4.5] to a tragic death of a young traveller woman having occurred close to the time of the callovers, but an adjournment only being granted in the case of close family members.

All in all, it seems unfortunate that the Tribunal did not proceed to a full hearing of the substantive issues and a large number of traveller families may well be left with the impression that the state apparatus is acting against them rather than facilitating their claims.

UPDATE ADDED IN 2011:
See also this posting on a subsequent High Court case. 

Events

I've updated the list of Irish Law events here:
www.irishlaw.org/events/

New events include the following:

Tuesday 4th November 2008:
On Lawyers, their obligations and the Cicero Collection at King's Inns Library - Hugh M Fitzpatrick Lecture in Legal Bibliography
King's Inns, Henrietta Street, Dublin
http://www.lawlibrary.ie/viewdoc.asp?DocID=117

Fri. 7 Nov. 2008:
Virtual Reality: Towards the Electronic Conveyance - Law Society, Dublin http://tinyurl.com/lawsoc07nov

Sat. 8 Nov. 2008:
Annual Human Rights Conference 2008 - Law Society, Dublin
http://tinyurl.com/lawsoc-hr

Tue.11 Nov. '08:
Economic Evidence In Merger Cases - Irish Society for European Law
CPD certificates will be available on request. Pre-registration at iselcompetition@gmail.com is required due to a limit on numbers.
Venue: Eugene F Collins, 3 Burlington Road, Dublin 4
http://www.isel.ie/Compcoming.htm

Wednesday 12 November 2008:
Internationalising Common Law Courts
Queen's University Belfast http://www.law.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofLaw/NewsandEvents/Events/

Thu. 13 Nov. 2008:
Recent Cases on Race Discrimination - University of Limerick http://www.iwla.ie/seminars.htm

Mon. 17 Nov. 2008:
The Impact of European Law on the Corporate World - A Conference to Celebrate 20 Years of ICEL - Irish Centre for European Law, Dublin
http://www.icel.ie/events_forthcoming.htm

Wednesday 19th November, 2008:
Prudential Regulation after the Credit Crunch: The Revised EU Capital Requirements Directive - Irish Centre for Commercial Law Studies, University College Dublin
http://www.ucd.ie/iccls/programs.htm

Fri.-Sat. 5-6 Dec. 2008:
Legal Processes Beyond the State - University College Dublin Legal Research Conference 2008: A Conference for Postgraduates
http://www.ucdconference.com

Mon.-Tue. 8-9 Dec. 2008:
Intensive Course on Planning Law - Law School, Trinity College Dublin http://www.tcd.ie/Law/Events/Planning.php

Friday 12th December, 2008:
Transfer of Undertakings - A Practical Guide - University College Dublin http://www.ucd.ie/iccls/programs.htm

Fri.-Sat.27-28 Feb. 2009:
Irish Society of Comparative Law Conference - Limerick
http://www.iscl.ie/conference.html

Judicial Diversity Seminar - Dublin, 18 Sept. 2008

Judicial Diversity: Strategies for Change
Evening Seminar

Keynote Speaker:

Baroness Usha Prashar CBE, Chairman, Judicial Appointments Commission, United Kingdom
6 - 8pm, Thursday, 18 September 2008

Venue: The Atrium, Law Library, Distillery Building, Church Street, Dublin 7

Organised by the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) and the Centre for Criminal Justice and Human Rights, University College Cork (UCC)

The Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL) and the Centre for Criminal Justice and Human Rights at University College Cork are organising an evening seminar on judicial diversity. The purpose of the event is to open up a discussion about the possibilities of achieving greater judicial diversity in Ireland.

This seminar is aimed at members of the judiciary, practitioners, parliamentarians, policy makers, academics, non-governmental organisations (NGOs), students and anyone interested in judicial diversity.

The event is scheduled to take place from 6-8pm on Thursday, 18 September 2008 in the Atrium, the Law Library, Distillery Building, Church Street, Dublin 7.

Baroness Usha Prahsar CBE, Chair of the United Kingdom's Judicial Appointments Commission is the keynote speaker for this event. Other speakers include: Professor Kate Malleson, School of Law, Queen Mary University of London and Dermot Feenan, School of Law, University of Ulster

If you are interested in attending this event please RSVP to Joanne Garvey, ICCL Administrator by 5pm on Monday, 15 September 2008, Tel: (01) 799 4504 or Email: info@iccl.ie

The Speakers

Baroness Usha Prashar CBE is Chairman of the United Kingdom's Judicial Appointments Commission, a Governor of the Ditchley Foundation, a non-executive Director of ITV, Trustee of Cumberland Lodge, non-executive Director of the Cabinet Office, a Governor of Ashridge College, President of the Community Foundation Network, President of UK Council for International Student Affairs and a Patron, The Runnymede Trust.

Her previous posts include First Civil Service Commissioner, Chairman of the Royal Commonwealth Society, Chancellor of De Montfort University, Executive Chairman of the Parole Board for England and Wales, Director of the National Council for Voluntary Organisations, Chairman of the National Literacy Trust and Director of the Runnymede Trust. She sits in the House of Lords as a cross-bencher.

Professor Kate Malleson joined the Queens Mary School of Law in 2005. Before coming to QM she taught at the London School of Economics. Her main research interests are the judiciary, the legal system and the constitution. She is currently working with colleagues at UCL on a three-year AHRC funded project on the selection process of the international judiciary. The project will identify and analyse the criteria and procedures by which judges are nominated and elected to the international courts.

She has a particular interest in the current constitutional reforms in the UK and acted as a specialist adviser to the House of Commons Constitutional Affairs Select Committee assisting it in its review of the provisions of the Constitutional Reform Bill. She also gave oral evidence to the House of Lords select committee on the Bill and last year was asked by the House of Lords Constitution Committee to provide a written report on the effect of the Constitutional Reform Act 2005 on the relationship between the judiciary, Parliament and the executive. In 2006-7 she chaired a JUSTICE committee on 'A Bill of Rights for Britain' which reviewed the problematic legal and political issues involved in assessing whether or not there is a case for creating a specific British bill of rights.

Dermot Feenan is a Lecturer in the Law School, University of Ulster. He was Co-chair of the International Research Collaborative on Gender and Judging, 2006-2007, set up under the auspices of the Law and Society Association, which hosted sessions at the Society's Annual Meeting in Baltimore, 2006, and its joint meeting in Berlin 2007 with several other socio-legal associations worldwide. He has held visiting positions at a number of universities, including: Cornell, Keele, Melbourne, Monash, Oxford, and Trinity College, Dublin.

He is currently completing a paper for publication on the topic of women's experiences as judges, as revealed in his research on Northern Ireland and as reported in the literature, in order to enhance knowledge and understanding of law, legal authority and diversity. He is also designing a research project on women judges' experiences in three common-law countries, which will lead to further publication.

Vacancy: Lectureship (Law and Irish) at U.C.C.

University College Cork

Applications are invited for a three-year fixed term College Lecturer (Law & Irish) contract in the Department of Law with requirements regarding Irish language as follows:

• The appointee must be a fluent Irish speaker


• He/she should ideally have a research interest in law and the Irish language and/or language rights.

Applicants must hold a post-graduate qualification in law.

Once appointed, this lecturer’s duties will include providing law modules through the Irish language. These modules will be made available to BCL (Law and Irish) students and to other undergraduate and postgraduate students. It is anticipated that this appointment will also serve to inculcate a culture of the Irish language among academic staff generally and that this will ultimately encourage development of the availability of more modules through Irish by academic staff. The appointee will also be expected to work closely with the Department of Irish with regard to placements and the development of the programme.

Salary Scale [new entrants]: €36,500 - €59,293

Closing Date: Friday 5th September 2008

Further particulars and application form:
www.ucc.ie/en/hr/EmploymentOpportunities/

Cuirfear fáilte roimh iarratais ar chonradh thrí bliana ar théarma seasta do Léachtóir Coláiste (Dlí & Gaeilge) i Roinn an Dlí leis na riachtanais seo leanas i leith na Gaeilge:

- Beidh an té a cheapfar ina G(h)aeilgeoir líofa.
- Go hidéalach, beidh suim aige/aici sa Dlí agus sa Gaeilge agus/nó i gcearta teanga.

I measc a c(h)uid dualgas beidh ar an léachtóir nuacheaptha modúil dlí a sholáthar trí mheán na Gaeilge. Táthar ag súil leis chomh maith go gcuirfidh an ceapachán seo le cultúr na Gaeilge i measc na foirne acadúla i gcoitinne. Beidh ar an té a cheapfar oibriú i gcomhpháirt le Roinn na Gaeilge maidir le socrúcháin oibre agus forbairt an chláir féin.

Scála Tuarastail [dóibh siúd atá ag tosú] € 36,500 - €59,293

Dáta Deireanach: Dé hAoine 5 Mean Fomhair 2008

www.ucc.ie/en/hr/EmploymentOpportunities/

Privacy in the Virtual World - Dublin, 27 June 2008

Darklight Film Festival 2008 - Dublin, Ireland

www.darklight.ie/pages/Programme270608.htm

Symposium:

Letting It All Hang Out: Privacy Vs. Publicity In The Virtual World

Film Base, Curved Street, Temple Bar, Dublin

Friday 27 June 2008
10 - 11.30 am

For a new generation of 'digital natives' privacy is no longer a requirement. Web 2.0 has brought with it a transformation in how we view the need for privacy and engage with the public realm - but at what cost? The discussion will be prefaced by a keynote address from Daniel J. Solove, Associate Professor of law at the George Washington University Law School, and author of The Digital Person: Technology and Privacy In the Information Age. Chaired by Irish Times writer Karlin Lillington, the panel will also feature Irish blogging guru Damien Mulley and solicitor/digital rights expert Caroline Campbell.

Issues to be considered include:
* Can bloggers say what they like?
* What's wrong with having nothing to hide?
* Who is really stalking you on Facebook? .. Does anyone care anymore?
* Is there a generation gap in approaches to online privacy?

www.darklight.ie/pages/Programme270608.htm

Reforming Laws on Sexual Violence: UCC Event on 27 June

Centre for Criminal Justice and Human Rights
Faculty of Law, University College Cork
Annual Criminal Law Conference
"Reforming Laws on Sexual Violence: International Perspectives"
Friday 27th June 2008

Speakers include:
Judge T Doherty (Special Court Sierra Leone);
Kelly D. Askin (Open Society Justice Initiative);
Madeleine Rees (OHCHR - Bosnia Herzegovina) ;
Doris Buss (Carleton University, Canada);
Fionnuala Ni Aoláin (TJI Uslter / Minnesota);
Penny Andrews (Valparaiso Uni / South Africa);
Amira Khair (ICC Women / Sudan);
Milena Pires (Govt of Timor-Leste);
B. Klappe (Netherlands Defence Academy);
O. Barbour (Irish Defence Forces);
Thomas O'Malley (NUI Galway);
James Hamilton (Director of Public Prosecutions);
Martha Fineman (Emory University, USA);
Nora Owen (Commission for Victims of Crime)

Venue: Aula Maxima, University College Cork
Time: 10.15am- 6.00 pm (Registration and Tea / Coffee from 9.30am)
CPD Group Study 6.5 points
Further details and booking form at: www.ucc.ie/en/ccjhr/events/
RSVP: ccjhr@ucc.ie June 20th 2008

This conference is organised with the support of the Department of Foreign Affairs and will be the first event of the Irish Government's Chair of the Human Security Network (www.humansecurity.org)

Report of Commissioner for Human Rights on Ireland

The Report of the Commissioner for Human Rights on his visit to Ireland was just published on 30 April. It includes responses from the Irish Government.

Commissioner for Human Rights, Report by the Commissioner on his Visit to Ireland 26 - 30 November 2007 (CommDH(2008)9, Council of Europe, 2008)

Go to
www.commissioner.coe.int and choose 'Latest Documents'

For a link to the actual report, try this:
https://wcd.coe.int/ViewDoc.jsp?id=1283555

[Click the PDF icon if you want a PDF version]

Media report (extract):

Commissioner doesn't pull his punches
Irish Times, 1 May 2008
www.ireland.com/newspaper/ireland/2008/0501/1209592340146.html

Ireland's record in looking after vulnerable people is graphically spelt out by the Council of Europe, writes Jamie Smyth, European Correspondent

COMMISSIONER FOR human rights Thomas Hammarberg didn't pull any punches when he presented his report on Ireland's human rights record to the Council of Europe's committee of ministers in Strasbourg yesterday.

His 58-page analysis of Government policy lays bare his office's assessment that the standard of care currently provided to vulnerable groups in society such as children, asylum seekers, Travellers and psychiatric patients is unacceptable.

Extension of compulsory registration of ownership of land

Minister announces further extension of compulsory registration of ownership of land
(Link to Press Release)

The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Mr. Brian Lenihan, T.D., today announced that he has signed an Order extending compulsory registration of ownership of land to six further counties. The Order will extend compulsory registration, under the Registration of Title Act, 1964, to the counties of Clare, Kilkenny, Louth, Sligo, Wexford and Wicklow and brings the total number of 'compulsory registration' counties to 12.

The Minister said: "I am determined to make rapid progress on extending registration of land ownership and it is for this reason that I requested the Property Registration Authority to identify additional counties where compulsory title registration could be introduced."

Compulsory registration of ownership of land means that the ownership of the title to the land must be registered in the Land Registry.

Compulsory registration applies in a number of situations:

· Where freehold land has been sold and conveyed to or vested in any person under the land purchase acts or the labourers acts;
· Where freehold land is acquired by a statutory authority, e.g. a Minister, local or public authority, or any company or body established by legislation;
· To sales of freehold land in areas which are the subject of compulsory registration orders made by the Minister;
· To leases (with over 21 years unexpired at the date of registration) by a statutory authority and assignments on sale of such leases in areas which are the subject of compulsory registration orders made by the Minister.

The Minister concluded: "According to the World Bank, efficient property registration systems which facilitate land transactions and protect ownership rights contribute to economic progress and competitiveness. The Bank has identified substantial scope for reducing registration delays and related costs in Ireland and that is why the Property Registration Authority has been given the specific task of promoting and extending land registration. Title registration is also an essential prerequisite for electronic conveyancing of land (eConveyancing) which is capable of yielding additional savings and efficiencies for the benefit of consumers."

In order to give adequate notice to legal practitioners and conveyancers, the new Order takes effect on 1 October 2008 and is available on www.prai.ie.

21 April 2008


Note to Editors

1. Under previous Orders, compulsory registration was extended to the following counties :

- Carlow, Laois and Meath in 1970 and

- Longford, Roscommon and Westmeath in 2005.

2. In extending compulsory registration in this Order, consideration was given to the facts that over 96% of all land in Counties Clare, Kilkenny, Louth, Sligo, Wexford and Wicklow is already registered in the Land Registry and that digital mapping is 'live' in each of these counties.

Forthcoming Events

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

Forthcoming events include:

Saturday, 1 March 2008
Legal Issues Facing School Principals and Teachers in 2008: Some Practical Solutions - School of Law, Trinity College Dublin
http://www.tcd.ie/Law/Schools.php

Saturday, 8 March 2008
25 Years of Protection? Article 40.3.3, the Unborn Child and Abortion in Ireland
http://www.ul.ie/pdf/841910435.pdf

Sat. 8 March 2008
Freedom of Information: A 2008 Update - School of Law, Trinity College Dublin
http://www.tcd.ie/Law/FOI2008.php

Thursday, 13 March 2008
Children and the Law - Law School, Trinity College Dublin
http://www.tcd.ie/Law/Events/

16 - 18 March 2008
Association of Law Teachers Annual Conference - Oxford
http://www.lawteacher.ac.uk/

Thursday-Friday, 3-4 April 2008
Youth Justice 2008: An International Conference, Centre for Criminal Justice and Human Rights, University College Cork
http://www.ucc.ie/law/youthjustice2008/

4-5 April 2008
Exploring the Limits of a Judge's Power - Belfast
http://tinyurl.com/2t5tsa

Fri. 11 April 2008
Law Faculty Annual Distinguished Lecture for 2008 - NUI Galway
The Right Honourable Baroness Hale of Richmond and Mrs. Justice Catherine McGuinness
http://www.nuigalway.ie/law/events.html

1 May 2008
Postgraduate Conference on Criminal Justice and Human Rights - UCC Faculty of Law
http://www.ucc.ie/en/lawsite/eventsandnews/events/

Sun.-Tue. 8-10 June 2008
International Council for Commercial Arbitration Conference, Dublin
http://www.iccadublin2008.org/

Thursday-Friday, 12-13 June2008
British and Irish Association of Law Librarians Conference 2008 - Dublin
http://www.biall.org.uk/

Mon.-Tue. 23 and 24 June 2008
Reflections on Irish Criminology North and South: Learning and Challenges for the Future
Dublin Institute of Technology
http://www.ucd.ie/criminol/html/homepage/events.htm

Equality and the Sikh Turban Ban

Lord Lester facilitated a fascinating workshop this morning here at UCC on Equality Law, assisted by Colm O'Cinneide.

Among the many interesting points that arose concerning the recent ban on a Sikh turban in the Garda reserve were the following:

• Could it be argued that a member of the Garda reserve is engaged in an "occupation" (under the Framework Directive 2000/78/EC)

• Even though the particular person involved has withdrawn from the Garda reserve, could a Judicial Review be brought against the Garda Commissioner's decision?

• Could a JR application be made by the Equality Authority and/or the Human Rights Commission?

• If a JR were brought, an argument could be made that the Garda Commissioner's decision applies both to members of the reserve and ordinary Gardai, if need be, in response to any defence relating to the status of members of the reserve.

Call for Papers - Postgraduate Conference

CALL FOR PAPERS
UCC POSTGRADUATE CONFERENCE ON CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND HUMAN RIGHTS

Hosted by the Centre for Criminal Justice and Human Rights, Faculty of Law, University College Cork.
Thursday 1st May 2008.
http://www.ucc.ie/en/ccjhr/events/

The Centre for Criminal Justice and Human Rights is pleased to announce the second postgraduate conference on criminal justice and human rights.
This one-day international conference will attract postgraduate research scholars whose work pertains to criminal justice and human rights. In addition to exploring topics specific to the scholarship of criminal justice or human rights, the conference aims to consider the intersections of both fields. The conference will serve as a forum for discussion and debate among researchers within both fields and between the two fields of study themselves.

The keynote address will be delivered by Michael O'Flaherty, Professor of Applied Human Rights and Co-Director of the Human Rights Law Centre in the School of Law, Faculty of Social Sciences, Law and Education at the University of Nottingham. Professor O’Flaherty is also an elected member of the United Human Rights Committee.

The organisers invite abstracts from postgraduate students working in these areas. The presentation of ongoing work is especially welcome.

The conference will be organised into streams, including but not limited to the following topics:
• Discourses of rights and crime.
• New directions in human rights enforcement.
• Human Rights, Criminal Justice and the War on Terror.
• Transitional justice.
• ECHR and domestic law.
• Asylum and immigration.
• Multiculturalism, minority rights and human rights.
• New trends in International criminal justice.
• Gender and Human Rights.
• Policing.
• Victimology.
• Juvenile justice.
• Punishment and penal policy.

Please submit an abstract (max. 300 words) to the organising committee by Friday February 15th 2008. Successful conference submissions will be notified by February 29th 2008. Submissions and further enquires should be directed to a.d.odonovan@student.ucc.ie

Frozen Embryos in the High Court

In November 2006 McGovern J. ruled in the High Court that Ireland's constitutional protection of "the unborn" does not include embryos outside the womb.

The full decision is now available on BAILII:
M.R. v T.R. and Others [2006] IEHC 359 (15 November 2006)
www.bailii.org/ie/cases/IEHC/2006/H359.html

The earlier High Court case was
M.R. v T.R. [2006] IEHC 221 (18 July 2006)
http://tinyurl.com/yrpdlu

Sample News Story:
Legislation prospect after embryo ruling
www.rte.ie/news/2006/1115/embryo.html

Extracts:

"The Minister for Health & Children, Mary Harney, has said she had already instructed her Department to begin preparing for legislation in the area of assisted reproduction.

Ms Harney's statement followed a High Court judgment rejecting the case of a woman seeking to have three frozen embryos released to her against the wishes of her estranged husband.

The woman argued that the embryos had a right to life under the Constitution, but the High Court ruled that the protection of the unborn does not include embryos outside the womb.

.....

However, today the High Court concluded that the three frozen embryos are not unborn within the meaning of the Constitution.

Mr Justice Brian McGovern said that it had never been in the minds of people voting on the 1983 Constitutional Amendments on Article 40.3.3 that the unborn meant anything other than the foetus in the womb.

The judge also said it was not possible for the court to decide when unborn life begins - that was not necessary to resolve the issues in this case."

Transgender Law - Lydia Foy in High Court

As many people will know, the High Court has decided in the Lydia Foy case that it will issue the first declaration of incompatibilty of an Irish law with the European Convention on Human Rights. [update April 2008 - The full judgment is available on the Courts Service website at http://tinyurl.com/5v764b. ]

Sample news stories and blog posts:

"State in breach of ECHR in transgender case
www.ireland.com/newspaper/breaking/2007/1019/breaking49.html

The High Court has ruled that the State is in breach of the European Convention on Human Rights (ECHR) over its failure to recognise a sex change that a transgendered person underwent more than a decade ago. "

Sex change law incompatible with ECHR:
www.rte.ie/news/2007/1019/foyl.html

The Foy Case (CCJHR Blog - Fiona De Londras):
www.ucc.ie/law/blogs/ccjhr/2007/10/foy-case.html

Tanya Ní Mhuirthile, Time to respect the rights of all gender identities, Irish Times:
www.ireland.com/newspaper/opinion/2007/1101/1193444281616.html

Previous Lydia Foy case:
www.bailii.org/ie/cases/IEHC/2002/116.html

Media and Tribunals

A Divisional Court of the High Court has ruled that Geraldine Kennedy and Colm Keena of the Irish Times must answer questions regarding the source of an article abou the Mahon Tribuanl.

The full judgment is not yet on the Courts Service website but is available here.
Title: Judge Mahon and Others v Keena and Kennedy, [2007] IEHC 348, High Court, 23 October 2007.
[Update 19 Nov. 2007:
The judgment is now available on the Courts Service website here.]

Cases cited in the judgment include

Oblique Financial Services Limited v. The Promise Production Company [1994]
Kiberd v. Hamilton [1992] 2 I.R. 257
Haughey v. Moriarty [1999] 3 I.R. 1
O’Callaghan v. Mahon [2006] 2 I.R. 32
O’Callaghan v. Mahon (No. 2), Supreme Court, 30th March, 2007
Mahon v. Post Publications Limited, High Court, 4th October, 2005
Mahon v. Post Publications Limited, Supreme Court, 29th March, 2007
Commonwealth of Australia v. Fairfax [1980] 147 C.L.R. 39
Sunday Times v. The United Kingdom (1979) 2 EHRR 245
Lingens v. Austria (1986) 87 EHRR 329
Castells v. Spain (1992) 14 EHRR 445
Goodwin v. The United Kingdom (1996) 22 EHRR 123
Dehaes and Gijsels v. Belgium (1997) 25 EHRR 1
Fressoz and Roire v. France (1999) 31 EHRR 28
Tromsov v. Norway (1999) 29 EHRR 12
Radio Twist AS v. Slovakia, European Court of Human Rights, 19th December, 2006
Tonsbergs & Blad A/S v. Norway, European Court of Human Rights, 1st March, 2007
Kwiecien v. Poland, European Court of Human Rights, 9th April, 2007
Ustun v. Turkey, European Court of Human Rights, 10th May, 2007
Ashworth Hospital Authority v. MGN Limited [2001] WLR 2003

Extract from the judgment:

In our view, nothing could be more damaging to the capacity of the Tribunal to carry out its functions than the perception that the Tribunal itself leaked information given to it in confidence. Thus, where a leak occurs as in this case, the Tribunal must inquire to establish the source of that leak as it has sought to do. Establishing that the Tribunal itself was not the source of the leak is in itself a legitimate aim and a pressing social need. At this stage, having regard to the destruction of the documents, the only means remaining to pursue that aim is by way of the proposed questioning of the defendants. If a Tribunal is not enabled to pursue the aim of establishing that it was not the source of the leak, even if it is not able to ultimately identify the source of the leak, the process of public inquiry in private investigative phase will be damaged to such an extent that there would be an inevitable loss of confidence in the integrity of the process and in all probability a significant reduction
in the voluntary co-operation of the public in its inquiry.
In the circumstances of this case we conclude that the defendants’ privilege against disclosure of sources, is overwhelmingly outweighed by the pressing social need to preserve public confidence in the Tribunal and as there is no other means, by which this can be done other than the enquiry undertaken by the Tribunal, we are of opinion that the test “necessary in a democratic society” is satisfied.
Accordingly, we will grant the relief sought.

Sample News Story: http://www.rte.ie/news/2007/1023/mahon.html

Blog Posting by Daithi Mac Sithigh:
http://www.lexferenda.com/26102007/anarchy-in-the-uk/

Extradition of Exoo Refused

I have noted previously here the case of Reverend George Exoo, whose extradition was sought from the U.S.A. to Ireland for alleged assistance in a suicide.

It's now being reported that Exoo's extradition has been refused:

RTE: Extradition of Exoo halted in US

The Times West Virginian: Ex-Beckley minister free

Irish Times: Minister in suicide case calls for change in Irish law

The judgment was issued by the U.S. District Court, Southern District Court of West Virginia. The judge was Magistrate Judge R. Clarke VanDervort.
The court website is at http://www.wvsd.uscourts.gov/
Update May 2008:
The Exoo case Opinion is available here.

Mandatory Life Sentences, the Constitution and the ECHR

RTE is reporting that a challenge to the mandatory life sentence has been rejected:

Challenges to life sentences rejected Friday, 5 October 2007 16:20

"Two convicted murderers have lost their High Court challenge to the constitutionality of the mandatory life sentence for murder.

They are 25-year-old Peter Whelan, who was jailed for life in 2002 for the murder of Cork student Nicola Sweeney, and 30-year-old Paul Lynch, who pleaded guilty in 1997 to the murder of Donegal pensioner, William Campbell.

Each claimed the sentence breached their rights under the Constitution and under the European Convention of Human Rights.

The two men claimed the mandatory life sentence interfered with the role of the judiciary and offended the independence of the judiciary enshrined in the Consitution.

They also claimed their rights under the Convention were breached because they have no way of knowing how or when they are likely to be released.

The case could have had implications for more than 250 people serving life sentences for murder in Ireland.

But Ms Justice Mary Irvine rejected the men's claims on all grounds."

The full story is here.