Human Rights in Ireland

This Saturday 19 November the Centre for Disability Law & Policy will co-host a one-day conference with the Burton Blatt Institute entitled “Genetic Discrimination: Transatlantic Perspectives on the Case for a European Level Legal Response”.  It will take place  in Aras Moyola (Ground Floor), North Campus, National University of Ireland Galway commencing at 9am.  The leading experts in the field will speak at the conference.  See the detailed conference programme here and an Irish Times piece here.  This one day international conference is the first of its kind in Europe and will be significant in sparking a debate in Europe about future law and policy in this area.  It is planned to publish the proceedings from the conference. The purpose of this conference is to examine the case for a European level legal and policy response to protect the privacy of genetic information and to prevent genetic discrimination, particularly in the employment and insurance contexts.  The science of genetic testing and related technology is in the process of advancing. Among other things, genetic testing technology may well offer the prospect of being able to detect the onset of future disabilities. The technology is becoming more prevalent and is being used increasingly in both the employment context and the insurance context.  The conference is aimed at legal practitioners and medical practitioners, academics and researchers, NGOs and those involved in disability issues, bioethics and practice. It is also aimed at those interested in medical testing generally as well as genetic testing specifically. There will be Continuing Professional Development (CPD) points available to those who are eligible and a Certificate of Attendance will be provided after the Conference.  For further information please contact Ms. Aisling de Paor at: aisling.depaor@nuigalway.ie or telephone +353 91 494017.