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.

New Irish Law Update available

A new IrishLaw Update is available at
www.irishlaw.org/updates/

Crime Statistics 2001

The main crime statistics for 2001 have been published.

See
www.justice.ie
Go to Press Office, then Press Releases, then 26 July 2002.

New Update

A new Irish Law Update is now available at
http://www.irishlaw.org/updates/

Irish Legislative Process

Here's a query I received today, together with my response:

Query:
I am studing irish law in the US and was wondering if you would be able to tell me the steps a bill must go through to become a law.
Thank you for your time.

My response:

The Irish legislative process is described at the following locations:

http://www.gov.ie/oireachtas/leaflet/leg.html
and

http://www.feargalquinn.ie(see right hand side of home page - The Legislative Process)

Irish General Election

The Irish General Election takes place on Friday 17 May 2002.
There are lots of websites covering the campaign, e.g.:
www.rte.ie/election2002/

www.ireland.com/focus/election_2002/