Irish Law – Page 11

Today, the Joint Oireachtas Committee on the Constitution, after a call for submissions and having taken evidence in public sessions, published its Report on Freedom of Expression. It is an extensive and well-written report, and will repay much further study. In the meantime, from the press release:

“The committee recommends that the current wording of the constitutional article on freedom of expression is unsatisfactory and drafted in such a way that the limitations on free speech are accorded undue prominence. The Joint Committee recommends that the freedom of expression as provided for in the constitution should be amended to be expressed along the lines of Article 10 of the European Convention of Human Rights, which will ensure greater emphasis on the freedom of speech whilst allowing for proportionate and measured restrictions on that freedom”, said Deputy Ardagh [Chair of the Committee].

“However, given the development in case law and the jurisprudence which has emerged on freedom of expression since 1996, the Committee is of the view that amendment is not immediately necessary but recommends that change be made when an appropriate opportunity presents”, he added.

This is a good starting point, but it is a pity that the Committee didn’t go further.…

Complaints against lawyers

25 March, 200813 December, 2010

| 2 Comments

| Irish Law, Irish Society, Legal Services Regulation

The Office of the Legal Services Ombudsman for England and Wales and the Office of the Scottish Legal Services Ombudsman were established in 1990. There are plans afoot for their reform (Scotland | England & Wales) but the basic principle of independent oversight of disciplinary matters for the legal professions will not only remain intact but be enhanced. Now, it seems that Irish law is soon to adopt this principle too. Carol Coulter has an interesting article about recent developments in this regrad in today’s Irish Times (sub req’d); some extracts:

Ombudsman will oversee complaints against lawyers

A Legal Services Ombudsman who will be appointed by the Government for up to six years will have oversight of the disciplining of solicitors and barristers, and of their recruitment and training. The ombudsman will be appointed under the Legal Services Ombudsman Bill, expected to be published next week.

The Bill was originally part of the Civil Law (Miscellaneous Provisions) Bill 2006 [2006 press release], but was taken out of this Bill for further development in the wake of controversy concerning solicitors Michael Lynn and Thomas Byrne. Under it, members of the public will be able to appeal to the ombudsman if they are dissatisfied with the outcome of complaints to the disciplinary bodies of the Law Society or Bar Council.

…

Airlines are facing legal challenge over refunds

30 October, 200715 November, 2010

| 3 Comments

| Airline charges, Consumer, Irish Law, Restitution

Under the above headline, Paul Cullen has an excellent piece (sub req’d) on the front page of today’s Irish Times, to the effect that the newly created National Consumer Agency (NCA) is planning a legal challenge aimed at forcing airlines to pay refunds to customers and to display their prices more clearly. The NCA has various airline practices firmly in its sights (and anyone who has been on a plane recently knows exactly what they are), but one line in the article particularly caught my attention:

The airlines are to be asked why … the taxes and charges they collect on behalf of airports are not refunded if a passenger does not fly.

Irish airlines are hardly unique in being slow to refund unincurred taxes and charges (see, for example, the UK’s Air Transport Users Council (AUC) report (pdf) on the issue, and some US stories here and here). One recent online report discussed Ryanair’s less than helpful practices in this area.

Nevertheless, as I have said on this blog before, in my view, as a matter of law, taxes collected but not due must be refunded. In my view, therefore, the NCA has solid legal grounds for this aspect at least of its actions against airlines, and I look forward to further developments in this story!…

Law School lessons

22 October, 200722 May, 2010

| 2 Comments

| Irish Law, Legal Education, Tenure, Universities

A few weeks ago, noted US Constitutional scholar Erwin Chemerinsky (wikipedia), currently Alston & Bird Professor of Law and Professor of Political Science at Duke, was hired as the founding Dean of Donald Bren School of Law at the University of California, Irvine; then he was “unhired” (here’s Chemerinsky’s own take on that, from the LA Times); and quite quickly re-hired.

I’ve just recently discovered that Paul Caron on Tax Law Prof used this flap “to generate and publicize the best ideas about reforming legal education from some of the leading thinkers in the law school world”. He and Bill Henderson asked various legal luminaries to give 250-word answers to this question:

What is the single best idea for reforming legal education you would offer to Erwin Chemerinsky as he builds the law school at UC-Irvine?

They got forty responses, gathered together here, and well worth a read they are too (don’t just take my word for it; the Chronicle of Higher Education thinks so too (hat tip: Tax Prof Blog)).

I wonder whether any of those ideas will surface at the forthcoming (second annual) Legal Education Symposium hosted by UCC in December (already discussed here on this blog)?…

Reforming Irish Legal Education?

9 October, 200723 June, 2011

| 3 Comments

| Competition Law, Irish Law, Legal Education, Universities

Change in the structure of legal education is in the air. It is one of the themes of the Second Legal Education Symposium which will be hosted by the Faculty of Law, University College Cork, on Friday 7 December 2007. As with last yearâ€™s symposium, this yearâ€™s will also be generously sponsored by Dillon Eustace, Solicitors.

This symposium will bring together various parties with an interest in legal education including students, teachers, researchers, practitioners, policy-makers and more – in the hope of enriching the debate and informing future decisions. The theme of the morning session will concern the undergraduate curriculum and will include a key-note address by Professor Joseph W. Singer (Harvard) describing recent (and much discussed and debated) curriculum reforms there. The afternoon session will focus on the implications of Fourth Level Ireland for Law Schools.

Harvard isnâ€™t the only US law school to think about curriculum reform; there is in fact a robust discussion of these issues ongoing at present in many US law schools, including Yale, Stanford and Vanderbilt; and another exciting change has been made by up-and-coming University of Detroit Mercy School of Law in their Law Firm Program. Nor are these the only kinds of curriculum reform being contemplated.…

Who says practising lawyers don’t get Web2.0?

31 July, 200727 August, 2007

| 3 Comments

| Irish Law

Via a story by John Kennedy in Silicon Republic, I learn that Irish practising lawyers will soon be able to meet their continuing professional development requirements by downloading lectures onto their mp3 players. It’s all a far cry from the apocryphal English judge in the 1960s posing the famous question: “Who are the Beatles?” (and equally silly enquiries or admissions). Now, it seems that Ireland’s barristers and solicitors will be able to listen to learned lectures on recent legal developments and then segue straight into Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band (Beatles‘ site | wikipedia) or Justin or Rihanna or Wolfgang or Ludwig.

In Ireland, both solicitors and barristers have continuing professional development obligations, to maintain, develop, improve, and broaden their professional and personal knowledge, skills and abilities. It basically boils down to attending conferences to keep up to date. Now, according to Silicon Republic, a joint venture between Irish e-learning firm Prime Learning and legal publishers First Law means that, since 23 July last, relevant courseware is accessible and audio downloads are available at FirstCPD. From FirstCPD’s “About Us” page:

FirstCPD is Irelandâ€™s first dedicated website for the delivery of leading-edge, online education for professionals in various disciplines.

…

Why should politicians not criticise judges?

18 July, 20075 November, 2016

| 1 Comment

| Irish Law, Irish Society

In a report published last night, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties (ICCL), a leading and well-respected independent organisation dedicated to protecting and promoting human rights, called for the introduction of a Judicial Council to strengthen the accountability of the Irish judiciary (see RTÉ | Irish Examiner | Irish Independent (Dearbhail McDonald) | Irish Times (here and here)). Tanya Ward, Senior Research and Policy Officer with the ICCL, undertook a year of independent and original research, including in-depth interviews with senior members of the Irish judiciary, to produce Justice Matters. Independence, Accountability and the Irish Judiciary (summary (pdf); Part I (pdf); Part II (pdf)).

It is a hugely important development, and very welcome. For example, a major finding from the research is that complaints against judges have not been processed expeditiously, and the Government’s handling of the issue of judicial complaints is criticised; so the report’s central recommendation is that the State finally establish a long-overdue Judicial Council, to hold judges to account where necessary whilst also respecting the constitutionally protected independence of the judiciary; and it also recommends a judicial Code of Ethics and greater transparency in the process of appointing judges.…

Is it ok to share wi-fi?

6 June, 200731 July, 2018

| 9 Comments

| Blogging, Contract, Irish Law, Irish Society, Media and Communications

That is a question posed by Kris Nelson on his blog, in propria persona. As usual, the answer is that “it depends”. I’ve already had a look at the issue from the perspective of potential criminal or civil liability if a user’s wifi is shared by a third party; and Daithí has taken the discussion several steps further. Now, Kris adds an additional consideration, directing the analysis to the terms of any contract between the ISP and the customer: …

cearta.ie

Category: Irish Law

Finally, some sense on Article 40.6.1(i)

Complaints against lawyers

Airlines are facing legal challenge over refunds

Law School lessons

Reforming Irish Legal Education?

Who says practising lawyers don’t get Web2.0?

Why should politicians not criticise judges?

Is it ok to share wi-fi?