Human Rights in Ireland

Last week, we began our shadow constitutional convention with an essay on the dynamics of constitutional change. This week, we continue on the theme of constitutional change with this essay by Dr Conor O’Mahony, Lecturer in Constitutional Law, University College Cork, where he considers the case for reforming the mechanism for constitutional amendment.

Constitutional Reform: Reforming the Reform Process?

In debates on constitutional reform, it is customary for the discussion to focus largely on the substance of reform (ie discussing individual issues or constitutional provisions), with significantly less attention given to the process of reform (ie how we actually go about reforming our constitution). This is regrettable, since the latter is the gatekeeper to the former; the process will ultimately determine the form, quality or even the very possibility of any substantive changes to the constitutional text. In many jurisdictions, Ireland among them, the legal and especially the political hurdles that must be cleared in the constitutional reform process can sometimes act as a barrier to necessary reform. To the extent that this is so, it begs the question of whether the reform process itself is ripe for reform. Unfortunately, this issue seems to be outside the scope of the current Constitutional Convention; this brief essay will raise a few of the central issues that might have been debated.

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At 9.15 am Strasbourg time today, the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights will hear a complaint relating to the extraordinary renditions programme for the first time. In El Masri v Macedonia the complainant, Khalid El Masri (left)—a Lebanese national but German resident—will claim that Macedonia’s refusal to instigate a full and proper investigation of his rendition, together with the state’s direct involvement in the rendition itself, constitute a breach of the Convention. The application claims breach of Article 3 (torture and inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment), Article 5 (liberty and security) and Article 13 (effective remedy). Read Full Post »

We are delighted to welcome this guest post by Colm O’Gorman, Executive Director of Amnesty International Ireland. It considers the need for UN reform in light of the Syrian crisis. This piece first appeared in the Irish Examiner on May 3rd.

A couple of months ago I was watching a BBC report from the city of Homs, in Syria. At the end of the clip, a small group of young men dashed across rocky ground at night. They were burying a seven-year-old girl who had been killed that day. They were doing it at night because it was too dangerous to bury the dead in daylight.

Since the uprising in Syria began in March 2011 the images and testimonies coming from victims and survivors have been graphic and disturbing. But somehow, this stood out. A nameless young girl killed, but no time to mourn, instead a hurried burial under fire by young men risking their lives for a dead child.

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The Surrey European Law Unit (SELU) is proud to host an interdisciplinary workshop on the theme of ‘A Europe of Rights: the EU and ECHR’. The workshop is aimed at young as well as established scholars and practising lawyers with an interest in human rights law and policy.

 Dean Spielmann, Judge of the European Court of Human Rights and President of Section V of the Court will deliver the keynote address on 8 June 2012.

If you would like to attend the workshop please register your place at http://www.surrey.ac.uk/SELU/

If you would like to attend the keynote address on Friday 8th June only please register your place at fbelevents@surrey.ac.uk. Registration for the keynote address is free.  

Please visit our website for more information http://www.surrey.ac.uk/SELU/

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A Master’s level student is required for a 10 week summer research project (Lost Lives), with work to be remunerated to the sum of €2,500.  The project will be looking at the intersection of natural disasters and human rights focussing on the events (during and after) of Hurricane Katrina in New Orleans, USA.   There are two parts to this project; the first of which will include archival and secondary literature searches on topics that arise from this question, including but not limited to unequal access to assistance, enforced relocation, discrimination (in provision of assistance), sexual and gender based violence, unsafe or involuntary return or resettlement and issues related to property restitution.   The research student would be required to build a bibliography or relevant material and then to turn to the particulars of Hurricane Katrina.  The second aspect of the summer project would be to build a data base of academics and organisations that are currently looking at this issue with a view to establishing links.  Finally, this information is to be incorporated in to preparing a research grant.

Whilst a student who has a law background, preferably in public international or human rights is desirable, a student coming from the social sciences would also be considered.  Importantly, the student must be able to undertake independent research and be familiar with database and other research tools.  Along with assembling the relevant legal requirements, a secondary research component will be collecting information regarding data base assemblies and ongoing historical records compilations that are ongoing in New Orleans.  Fluency (oral and written) in English is essential, good computer skills a plus. Interested students should email me their CV and a brief cover letter to Kathleen.cavanaugh@nuigalway.ie by no later than May 15^th.   Please note that the project must be completed by the end of August so students must be ready to begin the project by June 11^th, at the latest.

Recently, we announced a "shadow constitutional convention", an essay series on the Constitution and political reform running through this summer. In this first post, we are delighted to welcome a reflection by Dr Carol Coulter on the dynamics of constitutional change. This is the text of a paper Dr Coulter recently delivered at the Burren Law School.

The Dynamics of Constitutional Change

In February 2010 The Irish Times ran a series called “Renewing the Republic” in which a number of individuals from the worlds of politics, the arts, economics and comment outlined their diagnosis of the situation in which we had found ourselves and their suggested solutions.

Among the contributors were political commentator Naoise Nunn, writers Declan Kiberd and Theo Dorgan, Fiach MacConghail, Gary Joyce, and half a dozen others, and the series provoked hundreds of written responses from readers wishing to engage with the issues raised.

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On Thursday, June 7th 2012, the Public Interest Law Alliance and the PILS Project will host a conference in Belfast on Using international standards beyond the European Convention on Human Rights. The keynote speaker will be Asma Jahangir, an internationally recognised public interest lawyer, expert on international human rights law, and President of the Supreme Court Bar Association of Pakistan. Break-out sessions on socio-economic rights, equality and non-discrimination and NGOs and lawyer collaboration will include practitioners, activists, members of the judiciary and academics discussing how international human rights law can assist domestic rights litigation. The full conference programme can be accessed here, while those wishing to attend can register here.

François Hollande is the first left-winger to be elected French President since Mitterand’s second term in 1988. In a semi-presidentialist constitutional system, Hollande will wield considerable influence over domestic policy, particularly if, as expected, the forthcoming two-round parliamentary elections enable him to appoint a socialist Prime Minister and Government. While the current focus of international scrutiny is primarily on fiscal policy, here I discuss the manifesto and ideology of the Socialist Party with regard to human rights in the broad sense, as well as its past record in office in this respect. This is particularly interesting given the recent rightward drift of French politics – notwithstanding the Left’s victory – on matters such as immigration and security, as well as the cultural politics of halal meat, street prayers, and – bizarrely – foreign flags. I will outline how the emancipatory ambitions of French socialism have shifted from the economic to the social and cultural realms, over the course of an anguished and ambiguous reconciliation with liberal economics.

The prevailing perception of the PS (Parti Socialiste) is often that of a relatively “unreconstructed”, “unreformed” centre-left party, the antithesis of Blair’s New Labour. This is only partly true. While this image is borne of policies such as the 35-hour week introduced during the Jospin government of 1997-2002 – and of course, Hollande’s recent campaign promise of a 75% tax band – the broader historical reality has been a marked evolution away from traditional socialist tenets on public ownership and control of the economy.

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Rory O’Connell of Queen’s University Belfast Law School has set up a website which will be of interest to people teaching UK or comparative constitutional law. The website includes a chronology of events and sources relevant to constitutional law. The resource focuses on evens in UK constitutional history though also includes references to Irish, European, International and comparative developments.

The chronology is intended to help students in a number of ways. Read Full Post »

The Criminology Association of Ireland would like to welcome new members to join the association and to get involved in developing a network which links academics, researchers and practitioners both nationally and internationally. The CAI invites Irish and international members who share an interest in Irish criminology to participate in the association.

CAI Membership is free, and provides members with direct engagement with a wide body of professionals who are involved in the field of criminology and criminal justice in the Irish case. The CAI is linked with CRIMSOC: the Journal of Social Criminology.

The CAI organises the annual Irish Penology Conference and it plans to publish a periodical newsletter, CAI News, with information on relevant issues and events.

To find out more about the Criminology Association of Ireland interested parties are requested to contact CAI Chair Dr. Liam Leonard at liam_leonard [at] yahoo.com