A round-up of today's other stories...
Call for changes to Arbitration Bill
The chairman of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators has called on the Government to make improvements to the new Arbitration Bill before it is enacted.
Ciarán Fahy, chairman of the Irish branch of the institute, while welcoming the new Bill, said it had failings that must be resolved. He was speaking recently at the branch's annual dinner in Dublin.
The Government has proposed a new consolidated Act to replace the existing three Acts and extend the UN Commission on International Trade Law Model Law to govern not only international arbitrations but also domestic ones. However, Mr Fahy said he felt sections dealing with court-ordered arbitrations and excluding industrial relations should be omitted. These sections were simply a repeat of parts of the 1954 Act and were no longer relevant, he said.
He also said the area dealing with the additional powers of the court to set aside or remit domestic or standard awards should be omitted. "The protection which the Government wishes to provide to consumers could be arranged in a much more straightforward manner, allowing for a more streamlined Bill or Act," he said.
Mr Fahy added that the Bill would "foster the growth of international arbitration in this country . . . modernise our legislation and bring us into line with international practice".
Conference on criminal law
The law school at Trinity College Dublin is hosting a conference on Developments in Criminal Law and Procedure on Saturday, December 6th, in the Davis Theatre, Arts Building, TCD.
A panel of speakers chaired by Prof Ivana Bacik BL and including Michael O'Higgins SC, Tom O'Malley BL, Prof Dermot Walsh, Prof John Jackson and Dr Liz Heffernan will address relevant subjects, including changes in the law on custodial questioning, the introduction of the European arrest warrant, recent developments relating to sentencing and other topical issues.
Human rights talk in Queen's
This year's Stephen Livingstone Memorial Lecture is entitled Litigating Parliamentary Bills of Rightsand will be presented by Murray Hunt, legal adviser to the Joint Committee on Human Rights at Westminster.
It will take place this Thursday, November 27th, at 5.30pm in the Larmour Lecture Theatre, Physics Building, Queen's University Belfast.
This annual School of Law event acknowledges the life and work of Prof Stephen Livingstone (1961-2004), who was professor of human rights law and a former head of the school of law at Queen's.
Conference on drug abuse
A conference on drug abuse in employment organised by Merchants Quay Ireland with input from Landwell, employment law specialists and the ESB will be held at Dublin Castle this Thursday, November 27th.
It will highlight the increased use of drugs and other intoxicants in Irish workplaces and the risks to employers who do not take appropriate steps to address the issue.
The Safety, Health and Welfare at Work Act 2005 places a range of duties on employers, including a duty to prevent any improper conduct or behaviour due to drug or alcohol intoxication likely to put the safety, health and welfare of his or her employees at risk while at work. The Act also places new duties on employees not to report to work in an unfit condition due to the consumption of drugs or alcohol.
The seminar will be chaired by Vincent Browne.
Discrimination conference
The Equality Authority will host a conference on discrimination case law in Dublin Castle this Friday, November 28th, with a number of Irish and international speakers.
They include: Eilís Barry BL, the authority's legal adviser; Siobhán Phelan BL; Frank Callanan SC; Karon Monaghan QC of Matrix Chambers in London; and Robin Allen QC, head of Cloisters in London.