Forthcoming Irish legal events

I've added a large number of events for September - November 2004 to the listings at
www.irishlaw.org/events/
Some examples:
Sat.25 Sep.'04: Human Rights and Disability Discrimination - Galway
Fri.1 Oct.'04: Freedom of Information: Changing the Mindset - Dublin
Sat.2 Oct.'04: A Charter of Rights for the Island of Ireland - Law Faculty, University College Cork
Sat.16 Oct.'04: Schools, Education and the Law - Law Faculty, University College Cork
Sat.16 Oct.'04: European Convention on Human Rights Act 2003 Review and Human Rights in Committed Relationships - Dublin
Wed.27 Oct.'04: Implementing the New Data Protection Act: Practical Implementation Day - Dublin
Thu.28 Oct.'04: Data Protection in Ireland: Strategic, Legal and Compliance Day - Dublin

Conference on A Charter of Rights for the Island of Ireland

A major conference on A Charter of Rights for the Island of Ireland is being organised for Saturday 2 October 2004 at UCC, Cork, by my colleague Dr Ursula Kilkelly, with Professor Colin Harvey of the University of Leeds.
Details are available at www.ucc.ie/law/events/

Project to Reform Land and Conveyancing Law

Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform Press Release
http://www.justice.ie

McDowell announces major project to reform and modernise land law and conveyancing law

The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Mr Michael McDowell, T.D., today announced details of a joint project being undertaken by his Department and the Law Reform Commission to radically reform and modernise land law and conveyancing law. The Minister made the announcement today following a meeting with Commissioner Rickard Clarke of the Law Reform Commission and Professor John Wylie who chairs the Commission's Land Law Working Group.

The project will repeal over 100 pre-1922 statutes - the earliest of which date back to the 13th century - and to replace them, where necessary, with a modern law of property that will meet the needs of the 21st century. It is intended that the project will:

* Simplify the law and improve its presentation, in order to make it easily understood and accessible for practitioners and the public alike.
* Update the law to accommodate changing social, demographic and economic needs, e.g. new forms of property ownership;
* Make the conveyancing of property easier and faster with a view to reducing costs and delays.

The Minister said that the programme includes three phases:

* The screening phase, already underway, during which existing legislation will be reviewed with a view to identifying statutes which can be repealed without replacement and those which need to be replaced with modern provisions. This phase is already well underway since the start of the year and very significant progress has already been made. This phase will culminate in publication by the Law Reform Commission of a Consultation Paper in October 2004 which will embody the results of the screening process and contain parameters for future reforms.
* The second phase features a Conference on 'Modernising Irish Land and Conveyancing Law' to be held on Thursday, 25 November 2004 at the O'Reilly Hall at UCD. The Conference, which will be addressed by international guest speakers, will study the reform proposals identified in the Consultation Paper as well as the ongoing modernisation of the Land Registry and preparations for e-conveyancing.. It will be open to all those with an interest in the reform of conveyancing and land law.
* The third phase will involve the drafting of a Bill (or Bills) to give effect to the proposals for reform. It is intended that drafts of the new legislation will be available as early as August 2005.

The Minister said that reform of the law in this area would represent a major contribution to the Government's Programme of Regulatory Reform as outlined in this year's White Paper 'Regulating Better' and would bring tangible benefits to businesses and members of the public alike.


29 June, 2004

Visit to Franklin Pierce Law Center

A picture taken at Franklin Pierce Law Center this week of Professor Bill Murphy and me:

'Real' IRA a proscribed organisation - NI Court of Appeal

The Northern Ireland Court of Appeal has ruled that the 'Real' IRA is a
proscribed organisation -
see R v Z [2004] NICA 23
available at

http://www.courtsni.gov.uk/en-GB/Judicial+Decisions/

News report:

http://www.breakingnews.ie/2004/06/30/story154887.html

New Cases from Europe and USA

I'm currently teaching part of a course on
Information Liberties
in Franklin Pierce Law Center, Concord, New Hampshire, USA.


Coincidentally enough, a number of significant cases have been made while I am here, which will be of interest to many Irish lawyers.


Three significant cases concerning terrorism were issued by the US Supreme Court, including Rasul v Bush.


The same court has also issued yet another decision concerning regulation of child pornography - Ashcroft v ACLU.


And the European Court of Human Rights has decided that Princess Caroline's privacy was breached by certain photographs -


Von Hannover v Germany (Microsoft Word format.)

Equality Tribunal annual report 2003

The Equality Tribunal has published its annual report for 2004.


The full PDF is here
.

(An Irish translation is also available.)

And the press release is here.


Some brief figures:

4,000 Discrimination claims referred to Tribunal in 5 years


* 21% INCREASE IN CASES DECIDED

* 61% RESOLUTION RATE IN CASES REFERRED TO MEDIATION

* EMPLOYMENT EQUALITY CLAIMS UP 20%

* EQUAL STATUS COMPLAINTS DROP BY 28%

Seminar on Literary Copyright

The Copyright Association of Ireland is organising a seminar on
literary copyright on Friday 2nd of July in Dublin.

For details see
www.cai.ie/new/seminars/

Consultation Paper on Prosecution Appeals from District Court

The Law Reform Commssion has published a Consultation Paper on appeals from the District Court, available on its website at www.lawreform.ie

Submissions are invited up to 30 November 2004.

A brief extract from the LRC website:

Appeal Procedure Should be Introduced

The Commission recommends that a procedure should be introduced into Irish law for appealing against unduly lenient sentences imposed in the District Court. In coming to this conclusion, the Commission considers that the most persuasive argument is that it is in the public interest that offenders should be sentenced appropriately in relation to the crime that they have committed, and that a procedure should be in place for rectifying any inordinately undue leniency in the sentencing outcome. The Commission is also of the opinion that it is in the public interest that any real or perceived inconsistency (failure to apply appropriate sentencing principles), rather than disparity (appropriate different sentencing outcomes, taking account of different circumstances), in sentencing practices in the District Court be remedied by way of appeal.

James Joyce - 1933 case about publication of Ulysses in United States

To mark the 100th anniversary of Bloomsday, members might be interested to read the decision on U.S. publication of Ulysses
by Judge Woolsey, United States District Court, Southern District of New York, December 6, 1933, available at
http://joycean.org/index.php?p=93

The Challenge of Migration to Legal Systems

Thanks to my colleague Declan Walsh for bringing to my attention the W.G.
Hart Legal Workshop 2004 in London on 'The Challenge of Migration to Legal
Systems' which includes the following papers:

The Celtic cubs: The controversy over birthright citizenship in Ireland
Dr. Bernard Ryan, University of Kent

Equality at the European Union's borders?
Cathryn Costello

The dilemma of forced return: Balancing the integrity of the asylum process
with human rights and development
Catherine Kenny, Irish Centre for Human Rights, Galway

Deportation of Irish born children: Constitutional and refugee law issues
Ciara Smyth and Donncha O'Connell, Faculty of Law, National University of
Ireland, Galway

The Workshop takes place from Tuesday 29th of June to Thursday 1 July 2004.

Full details at
http://ials.sas.ac.uk/events/Jun04.htm

Irish Referendum and Election Results

Polling takes place today (11 June 2004) in the citizenship referendum and the local and European elections.
Results for the citizenship referendum will be available at
http://www.referendum.ie

Results of the elections will be available at
http://www.ireland.com and
http://www.rte.ie/news/

Judge may be removed due to Child Pornography allegations

As a result of credit card usage information received from the US investigation into Landslide Productions, an Irish Judge was prosecuted for possession of child pornography in Ireland but the prosecution failed because the search warrant was out of date. The search warrant was valid for seven days from its date of issue, but the police incorrectly interpreted this as seven 24-hour periods rather than seven calendar days. The Irish Government has moved on 2nd June 2004 to remove the Judge from office by means of a motion before the Oireachtas (Parliament). Before passing the motion, a speedy amendment to the child pornography law was made to allow members of the Oireachtas to possess child pornography in the course of the investigation. The Judge is now seeking a declaration from the courts that any evidence which was declared inadmissible in the criminal trial cannot be used in determining the motion for his removal.

Sample media reports:

http://www.rte.ie/news/2004/0423/curtinb
http://www.rte.ie/news/2004/0527/curtin
http://www.rte.ie/news/2004/0518/curtinb
http://www.rte.ie/news/2004/0526/curtinb
http://www.rte.ie/news/2004/0602/curtin.html

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/3771287.stm
http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/northern_ireland/3655115.stm

Child Trafficking and Pornography Act 1998:
http://www.bailii.org/ie/legis/num_act/ctapa1998303/

Child Trafficking and Pornography (Amendment) Act 2004:
http://www.feargalquinn.ie/m/mchildporn.htm

The Curtin Affair in the Oireachtas:
http://www.feargalquinn.ie/curtin.htm

Personal Injuries Assessment Board website

The Personal Injuries Assessment Board website has been added to the
Irish Law Site tort page.

The site includes the recently-launched PIAB book of quantum
(press release here.)

Citizenship Referendum Information Booklet

The Referendum Commission's Information Booklet on the Citizenship Referendum is available at www.refcom.ie.

Documentation on this referendum is available at
www.justice.ie

(Choose 'Proposed Citizenship Referendum' on the home page)

Brief extract from the Refrendum Commission's booklet:

The present Constitution and the proposed change

The Constitution of Ireland currently has the following provisions dealing with citizenship:

Article 2

It is the entitlement and birthright of every person born in the island of Ireland, which includes its islands and seas, to be part of the Irish nation. That is also the entitlement of all persons otherwise qualified in accordance with law to be citizens of Ireland. Furthermore, the Irish nation cherishes its special affinity with people of Irish ancestry living abroad who share its cultural identity and heritage.

Article 9

1.
1° On the coming into operation of this Constitution any person who was a citizen of Saorstát Éireann immediately before the coming into operation of this Constitution shall become and be a citizen of Ireland.
2° The future acquisition and loss of Irish nationality and citizenship shall be determined in accordance with law.
3° No person shall be excluded from Irish nationality and citizenship by reason of the sex of such person.

2. Fidelity to the nation and loyalty to the State are fundamental political duties of all citizens.

Proposal in the referendum

You are being asked to vote onwhether or not the following new wording should be put into Article 9 of the Constitution:

2
1° Notwithstanding any other provision of this Constitution, a person born in the island of Ireland, which includes its islands and seas, who does not have, at the time of the birth of that person, at least one parent who is an Irish citizen or entitled to be an Irish citizen is not entitled to Irish citizenship or nationality, unless provided for by law.

2° This section shall not apply to persons born before the date of the enactment of this section.

Media coverage of the debate:

www.rte.ie/news/
www.irishexaminer.com
www.unison.ie
www.sbpost.ie

Seminar on Children Act 2001 - Cork, 19 June 2004

CHILDREN ACT 2001 SEMINAR
SATURDAY 19TH JUNE 2004

9:00am - 1:00pm
ÁRAS NA MAC LÉINN/STUDENT CENTRE UCC

Website: www.ucc.ie/law/events

The aim of this seminar is to present details and analysis of the Children
Act 2001 and the extent to which it has been implemented to date. The
seminar will be of interest to all those involved in its implementation
including Solicitors, Barristers, Members of the Judiciary, An Garda
Síochána, Probation Officers, Social Workers, Youth Workers, Health Board
staff, Teachers, Education Welfare Officers, Psychologists and detention
centre staff.

Opinion of Advocate General in Chen Case

For some strange reason the Opinion of the Advocate General in the Chen case was not available on the web yesterday but it has appeared today.

To get the text go to

http://curia.eu.int/jurisp/cgi-bin/form.pl?lang=en

and under 'Names of Parties' input 'Chen', then click 'Submit' [at top of screen]

The Press Release is at

http://curia.eu.int/en/actu/communiques/cp04/aff/cp040039en.pdf

The abstract says:
Nº 39/2004 : 18 May 2004
Opinion of the Advocate General in the case C-200/02
Chen e.a.
Freedom of movement for persons
ACCORDING TO FIRST ADVOCATE GENERAL TIZZANO, A YOUNG CHILD WHO IS A NATIONAL OF A MEMBER STATE IS ENTITLED TO RESIDE IN ANOTHER MEMBER STATE PROVIDED THAT HE OR SHE IS COVERED BY SICKNESS INSURANCE AND HAS SUFFICIENT RESOURCES

Sample media coverage:
http://www.rte.ie/news/2004/0518/citizenship.html

Criminal Justice Bill 2003

The Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform has published the General Scheme of the Criminal Justice Bill 2003.
The Press Release is here.

Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Bill

The Companies (Auditing and Accounting) Bill 2003 has been published.
See press release at

http://www.entemp.ie/press03/140203.htm

Procedural Rules for the Irish Courts

Somebody asked me by e-mail where to find the procedural rules for the Irish Courts and here is my reply:

It depends on the court in question.
For Circuit Court, try checking the Circuit Court Rules as amended, published at
http://www.bailii.org/ie/legis/num_reg/toc-C.html
(Unfortunately these are not consolidated versions and the amendments only go up to 1998 -
you would need to check the print versions for subsequent amendments.)
See also
http://www.courts.ie/Home.nsf/LookupPageLink/Legal+Professionals+CCR

For High Court, try the Rules of the Superior Courts as amended
The main text is under 'T' for 'The' in the index -
http://193.120.124.98/ZZSI15Y1986.html

Amendments up to 1998 are listed at
http://www.bailii.org/ie/legis/num_reg/toc-R.html
See also
http://www.courts.ie/Home.nsf/LookupPageLink/Legal+Professionals+SCR


Having got as far as you can with these, you could then try contacting a Registrar / Court Clerk for the court in question. (Some contact details may be found at http://www.courts.ie )

The primary legislation governing the dispute in question may also say something about the issue, so watch out for that.