A round-up of other law matters in brief
Kosovo lawyers to visit Dublin to observe workings of Law Society
The Law Society and the Bar Council have set up a joint rule-of-law development initiative, which seeks to train lawyers in countries with an undeveloped legal infrastructure.
As part of the initiative, those involved are developing a pilot profession practice course which will be made available to trainee and qualified members of the legal profession in Kosovo. It is envisaged that over a three-year period the Kosovo Chamber of Advocates (the KCA) will take over the running of the course. The aim of the course is to build the capacity of the legal profession in Kosovo to serve the needs of the developing economy of Kosovo.
An application for funding for the course is pending with Irish Aid. In the meantime, those involved have invited four members of the KCA to Dublin to observe the workings of the Law Societys education department and the Kings Inns. The delegation arrives on Sunday December 14th.
Family Lawyers Association
The new chairman of the Family Lawyers Association is Cormac Corrigan SC. At its recent agm it also elected solicitor Justin Spain as its treasurer, and Caroline Brennan, Kyle Leyden and Bronagh OHanlon SC to its committee.
The Family Lawyers Association was founded in 1987 and celebrates 21 years in existence this year. The association is made up of solicitors and barristers practising in the area of family law and has close to 30 members around the country. It has set up a website, www.familylawyers.ie, which will be formally launched in the coming months.
Amnesty readings
Amnesty is organising a series of readings with the 30 Irish-based authors who were part of the series with The Irish Times celebrating the 60th anniversary of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights.
The readings started last night and continue tonight with Colm Tóibín, Ann Marie Hourihane, Eoin Colfer, Glenn Patterson, John Connolly and Anne Enright.
Tomorrow Joe OConnor, John Boyne, Claire Kilroy, Carlo Gebler, Gerry Stembridge, Dermot Bolger and Mark OHalloran will read, and on Wednesday the readers will be Frank McCourt, Eilis Ni Dhuibhne, Lara Marlowe, Gary Mitchell, Neil Jordan, Jennifer Johnston and Seamus Heaney.
They all take place in the Edmund Burke Theatre, Trinity College Dublin at 7pm and tickets are available from Amnesty.
Dealing with workplace racism
The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland recently teamed up with specialist recruitment firm PRG in Belfast to offer legal practices the opportunity to update on current laws specifically related to the issue of racism in the workplace.
The seminar addressed the need for best practice in relation to the Race Relations (NI) Order 1997, completion of Fair Employment monitoring forms, and potentially discriminatory job advertisements. Aidan Fitzpatrick of The Equality Commission for Northern Ireland pointed out that people from over 60 nations now live in Northern Ireland.
Griffith College online
Griffith College is now offering students courses online to prepare for the FE1, the preparatory course for the entrance examination to the Law Society.
All FE1 classes will be filmed and available online within hours, allowing students to revisit a lecture to help them prepare for exams or to catch up when theyve missed a class owing to work, family or geographic constraints, according to the college.
Handbook on immigration and asylum
The ESRI has just published a handbook on immigration and asylum by Emma Quinn, John Stanley, Corona Joyce and Philip J OConnell.
It is a multidisciplinary work, covering Irish and European legislation and decisions of the Refugee Appeals Tribunal, along with a discussion of available statistical data.
Major policy debates in recent years are also discussed including the acquisition of citizenship, integration, EU accession and displacement. The handbook is also designed to be a portal to further information and includes the contact details of organisations and individuals working in the immigration and asylum fields in Ireland along with a list of relevant recent research. It is published online on the ESRI website (www.esri.ie).
Arbitration law book
Arbitration Law, by barristers Arran Dowling-Hussey and Derek Dunne, with a foreword by Mr Justice Nial Fennelly, has been published by Round Hall. A guide to the law and practice of arbitration in the Republic, it is structured to facilitate quick and easy referral to any aspect of the area and the rapid finding of answers to queries. It costs €220.
Safety law explored
The second edition of Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Law in Ireland, by Raymond Byrne (who is also co-author of The Irish Legal System and the Annual Review of Irish Law series) is now available.
In its 1,078 pages, the book aims to provide a full account of the law in this area, including the Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 and relevant detailed Regulations.
The book also makes extensive reference to case law, providing analysis of developments in criminal and civil liability under 38 specific headings, including: bullying; construction projects; fire safety; manual handling; stress and positive mental health at work; and work equipment and machinery.
It also discusses national and international standards in this area, and guidance material from the Health and Safety Authority. The book is available directly from Nifast, at 021-4319250 and corkinfo@nifast.ie, price €198.