cearta.ie – Page 95 – the Irish for rights

Derek H Kiernan-Johnson has just put his paper “Telling Through Type: Typography and Narrative in Legal Briefs” on SSRN (hat tip Law & Humanities Blog). He notes that Chief Judge Frank Easterbrook has (pdf) deprecated

bad typography, home-brewed by lawyers just because word-processing software allows you to bypass professional printers. Unfortunately, … [lawyers] have not gone to printers’ school. Desktop publishing does not imply a license to use ugly or inappropriate type and formatting — and I assure you that Times New Roman is utterly inappropriate for long documents despite the fact that it is the default in some word-processing programs. It is designed for narrow columns in newspapers, not for briefs.

In my post Typography for Lawyers, I briefly referred to the website of the same name maintained by Matthew Butterick (interviewed here; reviewed here) as a remedy for these ills. Indeed, Dan Michaluk on Slaw expressed his preference for Helvetica the movie as well as the modern, minimalistic and neutral font.

In Kiernan-Johnson’s view, however, typography has the potential to go very much further: the

shapes, the spacing, of letters and of words can reinforce, compliment, and independently create narrative meaning. Or, intentionally or unintentionally, it can cut against it.

…

Fast cars and journalists’ sources

15 September, 201022 September, 2010

| 3 Comments

| ECHR, Freedom of Expression, journalism, Journalists' sources

In Sanoma Uitgevers BV v The Netherlands Application no 38224/03 (14 September 2010) (Inforrm’s Blog | Index on Censorship Free Speech Blog | JuraBlogs), the Grand Chamber of the European Court of Human Rights (ECHR) has held that an order for the compulsory surrender of journalistic material which contained information capable of identifying journalistic sources requires legal procedural safeguards commensurate with the importance of the principle at stake. This is an important standard, and the actions of the Dutch authorities failed to meet it. An order to disclose journalistic material was made by a public prosecutor, whom the Court considered to be a party rather than impartial, so that there was no independent assessment as to whether the interest of a criminal investigation overrode the public interest in the protection of journalistic sources. As a consequence, the Court unanimously held that there was a violation of Article 10 of the European Convention on Human Rights.

The case concerned illegal car races being investigated by the Dutch magazine Autoweek, published by Sanoma Uitgevers BV. The journalists took photographs and made notes, but edited the published photographs to guarantee the anonymity of the participants in the race.…

Gallimaufry

14 September, 201017 September, 2020

| 1 Comment

| Academic judgment, Contract, Gallimaufry, Legal Journals and Law Reviews, plagiarism, Privacy, Restitution

Dr Johnson defined gallimaufry as

1. A hoch-poch …
2. Any inconsistent or ridiculous medley. …

Here’s another hoch-poch, or hotch-potch (though, of course, not a hotchpot) of links relevant to the themes of this blog that have caught my eye over the last while, including: unjust enrichment, research integrity, breach of contract, slavery, good samaritans, and privacy. …

Two new appointments to the Press Council

10 September, 201010 December, 2012

| No Comments

| Press Council

According to a press release on the Press Council website:

Press Council announces appointment of two new independent Council members

The Chairman of the Press Council, Dáithí O’Ceallaigh … announced the appointment of two new members of the Press Council of Ireland, who will serve for a three-year term. The new members are Professor Áine Hyland, Emeritus Professor of Education at University College, Cork, and Mr Éamonn Mac Aodha, Chief Executive of the Irish Human Rights Commission.

They replace two retiring members of the Council, former District Justice Mary Kotsonouris, and Mr Peter O’Mahony, former CEO of the Irish Refugee Council. The appointments were made, on the basis of applications from members of the public, by an independent Appointments Committee, which was chaired by the outgoing Chairman, Professor Thomas Mitchell.

Announcing the new appointments, Mr.O’Ceallaigh said “I am delighted to welcome Professor Hyland and Mr Mac Aodha to the Press Council. They bring a wealth of experience in the public service to the Council.

Professor Áine Hyland, pictured left, is a world-renowned educationalist. She was Professor of Education and Vice-President of UCC, is a member of the European Universities Association Institutional Evaluation Team, and is Chair of the International Advisory Board of the (National Academy for the Integration of Research and Teaching and Learning (NAIRTL).…

Another Top 10 Online Free Speech Resources

8 September, 201021 September, 2010

| 1 Comment

| Freedom of Expression, law school

As regular readers of this blog will know, the right to freedom of expression – broadly interpreted – is one of my main areas of research and teaching. Many of my favourite internet resources relating to free speech can be seen in my blogroll and the list of badges in the sidebars on the right. Via Kate Sutherland on Twitter, I see that Kurt Hopkins has a great post on ReadWriteWeb about his Top 10 Online Free Speech Resources. In particular, he listed institutional resources which are accessible to anyone, provide original news or analysis, and are frequently updated. It’s a great idea; indeed, it’s such a good idea,

I’m going to copy it, and – without overlapping Kurt’s choices – list another top 10 online free speech resources below the jump (in broadly alphabetical order): …

Futher points of law

2 September, 201029 July, 2011

| 2 Comments

| Central Applications Office, Irish Society, Legal Education

The CAO needs no introduction to the present generation of school-leavers or their parents. Since 1976 it has enabled our institutions of third-level learning to reconcile annually the choices of the hopefuls — more than 60,000 last year — seeking to embark on a chosen career path.

This is how Fennelly J began his judgment for the Supreme Court in Central Applications Office v Minister for Community Rural and Galeltacht Affairs [2010] IESC 32 (13 May 2010). The Court granted a declaration that respondent Minister did not have the power under the Official Languages Act, 2003 (also here) to designate the applicant as a public body subject to obligations imposed by the Act concerning the conduct of its affairs in both official languages. The CAO today publishes its second round of offers of third level places for the forthcoming academic year, and in the inauspicious technical landscape of a Supreme Court appeal, Fennelly J provided an excellent primer on the operations of the Central Applications Office (the CAO; logo, above left):

is a company limited by guarantee and is a non-profit body. It was formed in 1976 and is based in Galway. … The State has no responsibility for its operation.

…

The secrets of marking

1 September, 201021 September, 2010

| 2 Comments

| Grading and Marking

Now that we are well and truly into the repeat exam season, here’s a video via hEaDspace (also on Legal Blog Watch), giving away the secrets of marking:

If you liked this, have a look at my earlier posts on the same subject.

There’s also a serious post by Mary Beard on A Don’s Life, which is well worth reading. Extracts:

… In my experience, we do this as well as is humanly possible within the constraints of the system — and it is time-consuming. … The key is to have principles and criteria, not rules. … .

Finally, happy grading, but please don’t use red ink!…

Academic tenure and university statutes

31 August, 201017 October, 2010

| 6 Comments

| Tenure, Universities

The Statutes of a university constitute its basic law. For example, when the Charter of Elizabeth, dated 3 March 1592, founded Trinity College Dublin as the mother of a University, it afforded the College the power to adopt and amend Statutes to regulate its internal affairs. In the restatement of TCD’s Statutes which come into force today, the Preamble sets out some values and aspirations to inform and underpin their interpretation and application. Among those values, the College

Affirms its rights and responsibilities to preserve and promote academic freedom, tenure, and freedom of expression, [and]

Recognises the corresponding commitment of its members to pursue with integrity the highest standards in teaching and learning, and in research and scholarship, …

I have already looked at the principle of academic freedom in Irish law in an earlier post on this blog; in this post I want to look at the concomitant principle of academic tenure, using the relevant provisions of TCD’s Statutes as a guide; and in a future post, I will look at the extent to which it is currently protected as a matter of Irish law.

Broadly speaking, academic tenure is the right of a full-time academic not to be arbitrarily dismissed.…