International Law

Forthcoming Events

Posted on November 18, 2009
The list of forthcoming Irish Law events has been updated. The full list appears <a href="http://www.ucc.ie/law/irishlaw/events/index-method1.shtml">here</a>. To subscribe to the Irish Law site e-mail updates list, fill in the form <a href="http://listserv...

An Bord Snip and the Legal System

Posted on July 21, 2009
Colin Scott has a useful blog post on An Bord Snip's proposals regarding the legal system <a href="http://www.irisheconomy.ie/index.php/2009/07/20/an-bord-snip-and-the-legal-system/">here</a>.<br />Join in the lively discussion in the comments section...

Data Retention Bill

Posted on July 13, 2009
Both the <a href="http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/frontpage/2009/0713/1224250545267.html"><em>Irish Times</em></a> and the <em><a href="http://examiner.ie/breakingnews/ireland/new-bill-to-allow-retention-of-phone-and-email-records-418461...

Recent Short Items (11 July 2009)

Posted on July 11, 2009
Data Retention Bill published - <a href="http://bit.ly/qNXt3">http://bit.ly/qNXt3</a><br /><br />Employment Agency Regulation Bill published <a href="http://bit.ly/E0GDb">http://bit.ly/E0GDb</a> (Press Release); <a href="http://bit...

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Draft Irish Creative Commons Licence available for public discussion

Posted on June 05, 2009
The <a href="http://www.ucc.ie/law/irishlaw/creativecommons/licence.shtml">draft of CC BY-NC-SA adapted to Irish law</a> 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...

Tipperary Mental Health Inquiry

Posted on April 29, 2009
<a href="http://www.mhcirl.ie/images_upload//logo_.gif"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 185px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 87px" alt="" src="http://www.mhcirl.ie/images_upload//logo_.gif" border="0" /></a><br /><div>There have been various media reports recently concerning the <a href="http://www...

Course for Irish speakers at King's Inns 2009

Posted on April 23, 2009
<a href="http://www.kingsinns.ie/website/images/history/history1.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: left; MARGIN: 0px 10px 10px 0px; WIDTH: 150px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 108px" alt="" src="http://www.kingsinns.ie/website/images/history/history1.jpg" border="0" /></a><a href="http://www...

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

Posted on April 23, 2009
<DIV id=idOWAReplyText9871 dir=ltr> <DIV dir=ltr><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>Thursday, 23 April 2009:<BR>Law and the Environment 2009 </FONT></DIV></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>7th Annual Conference for Environmental Professionals </FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>Faculty of Law, University College Cork</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>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...

Recent Short Items - 9 March 2009

Posted on April 23, 2009
Recent Short Items, from my Twitter Feed and Delicious Links:<br /><br />New HIQA Nursing Home Standards - <a href="http://www.hiqa.ie/">http://www.hiqa.ie</a> Hopefully no more Leas Crosses (in long term)? <br /><br />Another article by Karlin on data retention, featuring Richard H...

Events for next three weeks (from 9 March 2009)

Posted on April 23, 2009
Wednesday 11 March 2009:<br />"Judging Judges under the HRA 1998: A Reply to Keith Ewing" - Belfast<br /><a href="http://www.law.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofLaw/NewsandEvents/Events/">www.law.qub.ac.uk/schools/SchoolofLaw/NewsandEvents/Events/</a><br /><br />Thu...

Mental Health Commission Panels

Posted on April 23, 2009
<p>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:</p><ul><li>Chairpersons Mental Health Tribunals </li><li>Consultant Psychiatrists Mental Health Tribunals </li><li>Lay Members Mental Health Tribunals </li><li>Consultant Psychiatrists Independent Medical Examinations </li><li>Legal Representatives Mental Health Legal Aid Scheme </li></ul><p>Closing date for receipt of application is 5...

Mental Health Act 2001: Unresolved Issues

Posted on February 19, 2009
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 <em>Irish Times</em> about this case on 4 November (full text <a href="http://www...

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

Posted on February 16, 2009
<DIV id=idOWAReplyText22119 dir=ltr> <DIV dir=ltr><FONT size=2>Wed. 18 Feb. 2009<BR><BR>Criminal Justice Seminar<BR><BR>"Juries in Rape Cases"<BR><BR>Conor Hanly, NUI Galway<BR><BR>3-4 p...

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

Posted on February 16, 2009
<DIV id=idOWAReplyText10384 dir=ltr> <DIV dir=ltr> </DIV></DIV> <DIV dir=ltr> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>UCD Institute of Criminology</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>Fifth Irish Criminology Conference<BR>15 and 16 June 2009</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>Dear Colleagues,</FONT></DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial size=2></FONT> </DIV> <DIV><FONT face=Arial color=#000000 size=2>The UCD Institute of Criminology will host the Fifth Irish Criminology Conference on Monday 15 and Tuesday 16 June 2009...

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

Posted on February 16, 2009
<a href="http://www.law.columbia.edu/images/faculty_headshots/raz_j_68x91.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; WIDTH: 68px; CURSOR: hand; HEIGHT: 91px" alt="" src="http://www.law.columbia.edu/images/faculty_headshots/raz_j_68x91...

Vacancy: Equality and Rights Alliance Campaign Coordinator

Posted on January 31, 2009
JOB DESCRIPTION<br />ERA Campaign Coordinator<br /><a href="http://www.eracampaign.org/" target="_blank">http://www.eracampaign.org</a><br /><br />Introduction<br /><br />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...

Travellers in Clare - Equal Status Act 2000

Posted on November 20, 2008
An interesting recent case under the Equal Status Act 2000:<br /><br />Mongans v Clare County Council - DEC-S2008-039<br /><a href="http://www.equalitytribunal.ie/index.asp?locID=140&docID=1844">http://www.equalitytribunal...

Events

Posted on October 28, 2008
I've updated the list of Irish Law events here:<br /><a href="http://www.irishlaw.org/events/">www.irishlaw.org/events/</a><br /><br />New events include the following:<br /><br />Tuesday 4th November 2008:<br />On Lawyers, their obligations and the Cicero Collection at King's Inns Library - Hugh M Fitzpatrick Lecture in Legal Bibliography<br />King's Inns, Henrietta Street, Dublin<br /><a href="http://www...

Judicial Diversity Seminar - Dublin, 18 Sept. 2008

Posted on September 24, 2008
<a href="http://www.ucc.ie/law/irishlaw/blogger/uploaded_images/bprashar-756360.jpg"><img style="FLOAT: right; MARGIN: 0px 0px 10px 10px; CURSOR: hand" alt="Baroness Usha Prashar" src="http://www.ucc.ie/law/irishlaw/blogger/uploaded_images/bprashar-756359...

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

Posted on September 24, 2008
<p>University College Cork<br /><br />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:</p><ul><li>The appointee must be a fluent Irish speaker</li><br /><li>He/she should ideally have a research interest in law and the Irish language and/or language rights...

Privacy in the Virtual World - Dublin, 27 June 2008

Posted on September 24, 2008
Darklight Film Festival 2008 - Dublin, Ireland<br /><br /><a href="http://www.darklight.ie/pages/Programme270608.htm">www.darklight.ie/pages/Programme270608.htm</a> <br /><br />Symposium:<br /><br />Letting It All Hang Out: Privacy Vs...

Reforming Laws on Sexual Violence: UCC Event on 27 June

Posted on June 05, 2008
Centre for Criminal Justice and Human RightsFaculty of Law, University College CorkAnnual Criminal Law Conference"Reforming Laws on Sexual Violence: International Perspectives"Friday 27th June 2008Speakers include:Judge T Doherty (Special Court Sierra Leone); Kelly D...

Report of Commissioner for Human Rights on Ireland

Posted on May 02, 2008
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 towww...

Extension of compulsory registration of ownership of land

Posted on April 23, 2008
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...

Forhtcoming Events

Posted on February 26, 2008
I've updated the list of forthcoming events at www.irishlaw.org/events/.Forthcoming events include:Saturday, 1 March 2008Legal Issues Facing School Principals and Teachers in 2008: Some Practical Solutions - School of Law, Trinity College Dublinhttp://www...

Equality and the Sikh Turban Ban

Posted on February 08, 2008
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

Posted on January 07, 2008
CALL FOR PAPERSUCC POSTGRADUATE CONFERENCE ON CRIMINAL JUSTICE AND HUMAN RIGHTSHosted 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...

Frozen Embryos in the High Court

Posted on December 05, 2007
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...

Transgender Law - Lydia Foy in High Court

Posted on November 19, 2007
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. The full judgment is not yet available on the Courts Service website...

Media and Tribunals

Posted on October 30, 2007
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...

Extradition of Exoo Refused

Posted on October 30, 2007
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 freeIrish Times: Minister in suicide case calls for change in Irish lawAs far as I can work out, the judgment was issued by the U...

Mandatory Life Sentences, the Constitution and the ECHR

Posted on October 05, 2007
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...

The Latest from UCC Law Faculty ...

Posted on September 28, 2007
The UCC Law Faculty Newsletter 2007 is now available here.Forthcoming UCC Centre for Criminal Justice and Human Rights (CCJHR) events are listed here.These include:25 October 2007: Mental Health and Human Rights Seminar3 April 2008: Youth Justice Conference [call for abstracts now online] Thanks to Fiona De Londras, the new CCJHR blog is here.

High Court Case on Unmarried Fathers

Posted on September 13, 2007
There've been a large number of media reports on a recent High Court case concerning an unmarried father, Mr. G. The judge appears to have emphasised family rights under Article 8 of the European Convention on Human Rights.The full judgment doesn't appear to be on the Courts Service website yet...

Forthcoming Irish Law Events

Posted on September 05, 2007
The latest Irish Law Update is available here.It includes forthcoming events such as the following:Fri. Sep 7, 2007Preventing Ill-Treatment - Ireland and the OPCAT - Irish Council for Civil Liberties, Dublin Seminar on Optional Protocol to the United Nations Convention Against Torture (OPCAT)www...

Statutory Instruments 2007

Posted on September 05, 2007
Through Helen Mulcahy, our law librarian, I've learnt that Statutory Instruments of 2007 are now available in PDF atwww.attorneygeneral.ie/esi/2007/esi_num.html Strangely, there's now a gap in public Statutory Instrument coverage:From 1922 to Number 350 of 2005, go to www...

Extradition / Assisted Suicide

Posted on August 19, 2007
An interesting news story:"Judge considers verdict in suicide caseA US judge has adjourned the case of a man accused of assisting an Irish woman with suicide to consider whether the alleged crime warrants his extradition.The Reverend George Exoo, a former Unitarian minister, has been accused of assisting a 48-year-old Irish woman with her suicide in Dublin in 2002...

Irish Law RSS Feeds

Posted on August 17, 2007
For those who are fans of RSS feeds I've added two new feeds to the Irish Law Site cases page:The IRLII Lastest Irish Cases RSS News FeedThis feed has been on the IRLII site for quite a while now (about a year?) and is maintained by my colleague John Mee with the assistance of Micheal O'Dowd...

LRC Report on Spent Convictions

Posted on August 17, 2007
There've been quite a number of interesting reports over the past few weeks which I've been meaning to include in posts but am only getting around to now. The first one is the Law Reform Commission?s Report on Spent Convictions.Here's an extract from the press release:"The Report sets out in detail the elements of the proposed spent convictions law and it also includes a draft Spent Convictions Bill to implement the Commission?s recommendations...

Review of Mental Health Act 2001 published

Posted on July 29, 2007
The Department of Health and Children has published a review of the Mental Health Act 2001 which is available atwww.dohc.ie/publications/mental_health_act_review07.html. The review suggests very few changes to the Act, but some interesting points include the following:The Minister accepts in principle that the references to "unwilling" in sections 59 and 60 should be removed, but this will need to be done in the context of any new capacity legislationThe Minister accepts that there appears to be a drafting error in section 61As consultant numbers increase consideration should be given to reducing the 14 day time period allowed for in section 17(1)(c)(iii) to receive the second consultant?s report...

Family Law Matters

Posted on July 13, 2007
The Courts Service has launched its second report on Family Law proceedings, 'Family Law Matters'. This is part a series of reports which are a Courts Service initiative to shine a light on family law courts. The report provides information under four headings; Reports, Statistics, Opinion and Judgments...

Advertising Law in the Information Age event

Posted on July 13, 2007
We've been busy running the third E Law Summer Institute. The Press release is here.As part of the Institute, we have a guest lecture, open to all, as follows:Advertising Law in the Information AgeDouglas Wood, Attorney, Reed Smith, New YorkWednesday 1 August 2007, 9...

Mahon Tribunal Case 4 July 2007

Posted on July 05, 2007
Yesterday's Mahon Tribunal case in the Supreme Court is available on the Courts Service website at www.courts.ie/Judgments.nsf/Webpages/HomePageThe title isFitzwilton Limited and Others -v- Judge Alan Mahon and Others [2007] IESC 27A brief extract from paragraph 14 of Denham J's judgment:'I also note the words of the next paragraph...

LRC Public Consultation - Dublin, 18 July 2007

Posted on June 29, 2007
Law Reform Commission Public Consultations on Law ReformThe Commission is coming to the end of its Second Programme of Law Reform 2000- 2007 and has started identifying new areas of law to be included in a Third Programme of Law Reform, which will run from 2008...

Mental Health (Criminal Law) Review Board - new website

Posted on June 21, 2007
The Mental Health (Criminal Law) Review Board, established under the Criminal Law (Insanity) Act 2006, now has a website atwww.mhclrb.ie [link fixed 22 June'07 12.15 p.m.]A brief summary of the provisions of the Criminal Law (Insanity) Act 2006 is available on the Citizens' Information website.

Another James Joyce Copyright Case

Posted on April 17, 2007
Many people will be aware of cases concerning copyright in James Joyce's works such asSweeney v. NUI Cork T/A Cork University Press [2000] IEHC 70 and Sweeney v. MacMillan Publishers [2001] EWHC Ch 460.In 2004, a brief amendment to the Copyright legislation was passed due to concerns about possible litigation concerning Joyce's works...

Court Action re Constituency Boundaries

Posted on April 17, 2007
TDs take court case over boundary figures disparityTwo Independent TDs have initiated a legal challenge to the constitutionality of holding the general election on the basis of the current constituencies, given the huge disparities in population revealed by the census figures...

New IrishLaw Update Published

Posted on April 16, 2007
A new IrishLaw Update has been published and is available atwww.ucc.ie/law/irishlaw/updates/no32_16apr2007.shtml This includes a list of forthocoming events such as the following:Tue.24 Apr.'07: Competition and the Legal Profession - Irish Centre for European Law Conference, Dublinhttp://www...

Vacancies: Lecturers in Law (2), University College Cork

Posted on April 10, 2007
http://www.ucc.ie/en/hr/EmploymentOpportunities/ :University College CorkLECTURERS IN LAW (2 POSTS)College of Business and LawThe Department of Law has established itself as one of the leading law schools in Ireland. It has a distinguished history over many decades in attracting high quality students and recruiting high quality staff nationally and internationally...

Final Report of the Balance in the Criminal Law Review Group

Posted on March 29, 2007
Press Release from www.justice.ie :Final Report of the Balance in the Criminal Law Review GroupThe Tanaiste and Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Michael McDowell, T.D, has published the final report of the Review Group he established last November, chaired by Dr...

Cork Online Law Review 2007

Posted on March 13, 2007
Cork Online Law Review 2007http://colr.ucc.ie ARTICLES:Foreword by Dr Carol Coulter, Family Law Reporter, Courts Service1 Anthony Finegan - Asbestos-Related Injury Litigation2 Eilionoir Flynn - Access to Services for People With Disabilities3 Eleanor Leane - Principles of Juvenile Justice4 Tom Flynn - Copyright Law in a Digital Age5 Paul Daly - The House of Lords and the Government6 Olufemi Amao - Reflexive Law and the C...