Activities

Lawyers in Practice Series

To implement the strategic theme of Empowering Humanity, a micro strategy of improving dialogue between students and legal practitioners was adopted.  The aim of this was twofold: first, the pedagogical aim of expanding the horizons of students and, secondly, the importance of a discussion with civil society on the work done in academic law.  CCLE therefore invited practising lawyers who could communicate  authentically with students and who would be receptive to a dialogue between student, lecturer and visiting speakers  and ready to support students mentor/career advice.

Semester 1, 2023-24: Judge Patricia Lucas, retired judge of the Superior Court of California, was invited by Dr Hunt to participate in the entire undergraduate module on legal ethics and practice (LAW30700).  This gave students a fascinating insight into the role of a judge, and the distinction between the common law in Ireland and the USA.  The students benefited from the dialogue between retired judge, lecturer and student and the continuity of involvement throughout the semester is something that the CCLE would like to repeat should the opportunity arise. 

This involvement culminated on 5 October 2023 when Judge Patricia Lucas delivered a seminar to invited staff and students (from LAW30700) chaired by Dr Lucey, Director of CCLE. This event also forms part of UCD CCLE workstream on Courts and Judges.

On 28 February 2024, at the invitation of Dr Hunt, the Deputy Director, the Attorney General, Rossa Fanning, delivered a lecture to students of Economic Law of the EU (lectured by Dr Lucey and Professor Dagmar Schiek.  Rossa Fanning is an Adjunct Professor in SSoL.  The pedagogical aim of the lecture was developed by Dr Lucey who introduced the Attorney General and noted that the Attorney General was excellently positioned to give a broad insight into Ireland's position in the EU.  His rousing lecture covered decades of Ireland's membership of the Union and, among other issues, considered Ireland's obligations under EU law.  The lecture was also attended by Professor Dagmar Schiek, Full Professor of EU law and labour law.

On 14 November 2024, Ronan P. Harty, Partner, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP (New York) . delivered a stimulating talk entitled “Navigating the Multi-jurisdictional Investigative process”  students enrolled in Law 30640, Competition Law in Practice. Recognised as a leading antitrust lawyer, Ronan shared his expertise with a large audience who enthusiastically grasped the rare opportunity to ask questions of a lawyer of such standing. Ronan has been a generous supporter of the UCD Sutherland School of Law for many years: as a donor and, more recently, as sponsor of The Ronan Harty Newman Fellowship in New Frontiers of Competition Law.

On 21 November 2024, Tom O’Connor, former senior partner, A&L Goodbody and former Chair of UCD Foundation spoke to students in LAW30700, The Lawyer, Professional Ethics & Legal Practice, about his experiences of legal practice.  Dr Hunt is in discussions with Tom O’Connor as to how his offer to mentor students might be implemented. 

Comparative Law Conversations

On Wednesday 18 September 2024, UCD Centre for the Common Law in Europe and BITS Law School Mumbai jointly launched a new series of "Comparative Law Conversations", with the first joint seminar of this kind. It was chaired by the Deputy Director of the Centre, Dr Emer Hunt. Dr Anubhav Dutt Tiwari (BITS) and John O'Dowd (UCD) presented on the Indian and the Irish perspectives on the topic "Appointment of judges to the Supreme Court and the extent of the executive's powers", particularly on the balance between the executive and judicial roles in these appointments and how recent developments have affected this. Dr Niamh Howlin (UCD) acted as discussant, bringing to bear her expertise in the history of the legal profession and judiciary, followed by a Q&A which further explored what can be learned from a comparative analysis of this topic about judicial independence, the rule of law and the separation of powers.

Exploring Ireland as a divergent common law jurisdiction since 1922.

02 December 2024. 9.15am- 4pm

Harty Boardroom, Sutherland School of Law

After 1922, English case law continues to be cited in Irish courts. Nonetheless, the courts in Ireland have delineated some areas of difference from English courts. By more closely reflecting Irish society, Irish courts are evolving, on occasion, common law in a distinctive way. In this, the second workshop in our Divergent Cases Project, the speakers are drawn from within and outside SSoL.

Programme

09:15: Tea/Coffee

09:45: Welcome

10:00: Session 1            Statutory Interpretation and Courts

 Chair: Karen Lynch Shally

Keynote Address

‘Courts Interpreting Legal Text’ (tbc)

Mr Justice Frank Clarke (ret’d C.J.),

President of Law Reform Commission

‘Mind the (fair procedures) Gap:  Divergence in Statutory Interpretation in The People (DPP) v McGrail [1990] 2 IR 38’

Mark Coen (SSoL)

11:00: Session 2            Irish Courts and Jurisdiction

Chair: Mark Coen

'Landmarks in a Changing Landscape: The Irish Courts System Since 1922'.

Niamh Howlin (SSoL)

'Forum Non Conveniens and EU Law'

Máire Ní Shúilleabháin (SSoL)

'Byrne v Ireland: Judging Walsh J’s divergence through the lens of Irish Nationalism'.

Saoirse Enright (SSoL)

12:00: Session 3            Transactions

Chair: John O’ Dowd

‘Divergent Answers to the Ongoing Land and Housing Question(s)?’

Sarah Hamill (Trinity College Dublin)

‘Fundamental breach in Irish contract law - the end of the (Clayton) Love affair?’

James McDermott (SSoL)

‘A Comedy of Errors? Cooper v. Phibbs’

James Devenney and Andrea Miglionico (University of Reading)

13:00: Lunch

13:45: Session 4            Calculations

Chair: James Devenney

Philp v Ryan (2004)

Sarah Fulham-McQuillan (SSoL)

Glover v BLN Ltd 1973 (Walsh J)

Anthony Kerr (SSoL)

“Lover of cop handler probed over cash”:

Gilchrist v Sunday Newspapers Ltd [2017] IECA 190

John O'Dowd (SSoL)

‘O’Donnell to Cavendish- A Quantum Leap or the Inevitable Next Step?’

Karen Lynch Shally (Maynooth University)

15:55: Concluding Remarks

Harty Seminar

Ronan P. Harty, Partner at Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP (New York)

November 14^th 2024. Our alumnus Ronan Harty of Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP (New York) delivered a stimulating talk entitled “Navigating the Multi-jurisdictional Investigative process”.

Recognised as a leading antitrust lawyer, Ronan shared his expertise with a large audience who enthusiastically grasped the rare opportunity to ask questions of a lawyer of such standing. Ronan has been a generous supporter of the UCD Sutherland School of Law for many years: as a donor and, more recently, as sponsor of The Ronan Harty Newman Fellowship in New Frontiers of Competition Law.

Ronan Harty and Mary Catherine Lucey

Reimagining Law Schools: Challenges and Opportunities

A Workshop Hosted by the School of Law, University of Reading and the Centre for the Common Law in Europe, Sutherland Law School, University of College Dublin

Against shifting political sands, the Higher Education environment has been evolving dramatically in recent years with, for example, changes to fees regimes, increased competition in the higher education sector, increased pressure on resources and pensions, the changing expectations of students, TEF and the much sharper focus on employability.  At the same time, the higher education sector has had to navigate, for example, the uncertainty surrounding Brexit, the immediate (and longer term) impact of the coronavirus pandemic and the role of AI.  Moreover, there has been increased debate about the future shape of legal education with, first, the Legal Education and Training Review (LETR) and then the emergence of the Solicitors Qualifying Examination (SQE), as well as the changing landscape of the provision of legal services and the increasing globalisation of law.  This dynamic, and to some extent volatile, context undoubtedly creates challenges and risks.  Yet, more importantly, this changing context disrupts the established order and creates opportunities to develop models of legal education fit for the 21st century.  This conference explores some of the challenges and opportunities for Law School, so that together we may reimagine legal education.

2022 Centenary Project

The UCD Center for the Common Law in Europe is planning a major project to mark the centenary of the founding of the State. We envisage holding workshops and a conference which lead to an edited collection of essays on the development of the common law in this jurisdiction in the last 100 years. This project offers scope for contributions from across UCD as well as for international co- authorship as the evolution of post-colonial common law attracts attention in other jurisdictions

9 Dec, Seminar: “EU nationals’ vulnerability in the context of Brexit: the case of Polish nationals” with Assistant Professor, Sara Benedi Laheurta.

Dr. Sara Benedi Laheurta

Wednesday December 9 - 13:00 

“EU nationals’ vulnerability in the context of Brexit: the case of Polish nationals”

Sara joined University College Dublin (UCD), Sutherland School of Law, as an Assistant Professor in December 2019. Previously, she was a Lecturer in Employment Law at the University of Southampton Law School, UK and the founding Director of the Stefan Cross Research Centre for Women, Equality and Law (2018-19).

Her research focuses on discrimination and employment law (at EU and comparative levels). She is particularly interested in avenues to improve the effectiveness of equality law through a range of regulatory tools like equality bodies, positive duties, ADR, and collective remedies. Her current research projects concern the analysis of pay transparency regulations to address the gender pay gap and EU policies to address hate speech.

Gender Pay Gap Workshop with Dr. Sara Benedi Lahuerta

 In September 2021, Dr Sara Benedi-Lahuerta will host a virtual workshop on transparency initiatives which aim to tackle the gender paygap.

UCD CCLE Distinguished Speaker Series

Tom O’Connor, former Senior Partner of A&L Goodbody, solicitors, and Chair of UCD Foundation spoke to students in The Lawyer, Professional Ethics & Legal Practice (LAW30700) about his career, practising as a lawyer in rural and large commercial firms and experiencing substantial technological change.  He emphasised the importance of knowing the law, but also knowing how to deliver legal advice.  Tom also spoke about finding and retaining clients and the effectiveness of networking.  The students were given a perspective into legal practice which was very valuable.

Pictured with Dr Emer Hunt, deputy director of the Centre for Common Law in Europe.

CCLE hosted Professor Neil H Buchanan as a Sutherland Fellow

In October 2024, the CCLE hosted Professor Neil H Buchanan as a Sutherland Fellow in UCD.  Professor Buchanan is both an economist and lawyer, with a PhD in economics from Harvard University and a PhD in law from Monash University.  These interests coalesce in the areas of intergenerational justice, and taxation and welfare, where he has written extensively.

During his visit to UCD, Professor Buchanan gave very generously of his time to faculty and students: delivering a staff seminar entitled Ownership, Myths, and the Legitimacy of Law; a class to students in the legal ethics module, taught by Dr Emer Hunt, on the question of what we owe future generations, taking the environment and democratic government as exemplars; and a stimulating ‘brown bag lunch’ talk to the CCLE on the forthcoming US Presidential election and the procedures relating to the electoral college under the 12th Amendment.  

From left to right, Professor Buchanan is pictured with, left to right, Dr Christie Nicoson, postdoctoral researcher in [link to Ashling Swaine’s research project], Patryk Bartkiewicz, UCD law student, Professor Neil H Buchanan, Sutherland Fellow, Dr Emer Hunt, Deputy Director of CCLE and Suzanne d’Arcy, research manager.

Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill

On December 14^th 2023, UCD CCLE co-organised workshop with  Warwick Law School and the Centre for Commercial Law and Financial Regulation (CCLFR)University of Reading on the UK  “Digital Markets, Competition and Consumer Bill” at University of Reading. This event forms part of the BLREG legacy workstream.

Law Workshop The Digital Markets Competition and Consumer Bill brochure

Modern Studies in Commercial Law

Modern Studies in Commercial Law is a research platform co-created by UCD CCLE in partnership with Centre for Commercial Law and Financial Regulation (Reading) and Institute of International Shipping and Trade Law (Swansea).  Its aim is to assist commercial lawyers disseminate the findings of projects, scholarly views and academic outputs. Its purpose is to bring together scholars, practitioners and policymakers in order to develop an interdisciplinary approach in broad areas of commercial law and, thereby, stimulate debate over the recent legal and regulatory developments in the field. It is hosted at  (opens in a new window)https://research.reading.ac.uk/commercial-law/

Attorney General Lecture

On February 28th, at the invitation of the UCD Centre for the Common Law in Europe's Deputy Director ( Dr Emer Hunt), the Attorney General, Mr Rossa Fanning, in his capacity as Adjunct Professor delivered a lecture to our students. Dr Mary Catherine Lucey, Director of the Common Law in Europe, introduced the Attorney General to the students of Economic Law of the EU, noting that his lecture was an excellent opportunity to gain a broad insight into Ireland's position in the EU.  His rousing lecture covered decades of Ireland's membership of the Union and, among other issues, considered Ireland's obligations under EU law. His talk aligned with the Centre's educational mandate to provide insights into Ireland's relationship with the EU.   The lecture was also attended by Professor Dagmar Schiek, Full Professor of EU law and labour law.

Judge Patricia Lucas audited and participated in the undergraduate module Lawyers, Legal Ethics and Practice

Trimester one 2023/24 Judge Patricia Lucas audited and participated in the undergraduate module Lawyers, Legal Ethics and Practice  (LAW30700).  This team teaching of students proved to be a very valuable model for students. On October 5^th 2023, Judge Patricia Lucas delivered a seminar to invited staff and students on noteworthy aspects of judicial institutions in the US. This event forms part of UCD CCLE workstream on Courts and Judges.

Court of Appeal Workshop

Dr Mark Coen and Dr Noel McGrath coordinated a two-day workshop on the Court of Appeal of Ireland on Wednesday 3rd and Thursday 4th May 2023. Fifteen papers were delivered over two days by distinguished scholars from Ireland and other jurisdictions. The workshop is a key aspect of a project examining the first ten years of the Court of Appeal, which was established following a constitutional referendum in 2014. The project is located in the Centre for the Common Law in Europe (CCLE) in the Sutherland School of Law.

Annotated Database of Court of Appeal decisions

The SSoL Research Competition awarded funding to the CCLE under the Research Group strand to support the creation of an annotated database of Court of Appeal decisions since the establishment of the Court in 2014. The successful application was submitted by Dr Mark Coen and Dr Noel McGrath. The funding helped to finance hiring a graduate of the Business and Law programme. The project yielded a very comprehensive dataset that is available to share with those who will contribute chapters to an edited collection marking 10 years of the Court. 

UCD CCCLE won funding under the Decade of Centenaries Internal Award Scheme

 UCD CCCLE won funding under the Decade of Centenaries Internal Award Scheme 2021 for its research project entitled “A Centenary of Diverging Common Law in Ireland”

“Judges in Ireland and France: Different Routes to Performing Similar  Functions  in the  EU”

Judge Sylvaine Poillot Peruzzetto: Cour de Cassation

In November 2021, Judge Sylvaine Poillot Peruzzetto, at the invitation of the UCD CCLE,  delivered a stimulating seminar in UCD SSol  which compared the roles of judges in an EU common  law  system (Ireland) with those in an EU civil law system (France). Her aim was to highlight some apparent differences and some common characteristics as the judges function within the EU legal system.

Her talk traced the pathways to becoming a judge in France and in Ireland. It also shone light on how the judges operate or perform within the French and Irish legal architecture and, inter alia, contrasted their respective approaches to crafting judgments. It emphasised their common responsibility in terms of their duties as judges within the EU legal system. Noting their duties in respect of the rule of law (in particular, in relation to fundamental rights) she focussed on the imperative of judicial independence.

Irish European Law Forum

The Centre for Common Law in Europe succeeded in its bid to secure funding to host the 24^th session of the IELF. The chosen theme is  Empowering Consumers: Reconciling EU Law and the Common Law which aligns with UCD’s interest in ‘Empowering Humanity’. The conference pursues the ambition of publishing original research.

The traditional format has been reframed as a one week long series of webinar sessions of 90 mins (starting at either 8.30am or 12.30) to facilitate greater participation, especially from those located abroad than is achievable in a face to face one day event.

Each session critically examines how consumers fare under selected areas of EU law and common law including contract law, competition law, digital law, privacy law and consumer Law. Debate is anticipated on matters such as i) reconciling traditional common law concepts (for example, good faith /reasonableness) with EU concepts and ii) Europeanisation versus national diversity.

Another notable feature is the post-session “coffee and chat” intended for SSoL post- graduate students display their posters on their research.

FitzPatrick Foundation Funding awarded to UCD CCLE

Following a competitive process, UCD CCLE won funding from the FitzPatrick Foundation for a ground-breaking project entitled “Gender Critique of the Public Enforcement of Competition Law.”  

Gender and competition law is a nascent topic. UCD CCLE’s project surveys the public enforcement of competition law in selected European jurisdictions from a gender perspective. The gender focus shines attention on the extent and nature of competition law enforcement in markets which are especially significant for one gender. 

Spotlight On: BREXIT

In January 2021, the UCD Centre for Common Law in Europe will showcase BREXIT related research conducted by UCD SSoL colleagues including Dean Professor Imelda Maher, Professor Joe Mc Mahon, Professor Gavin Barrett, Mr John O’Dowd, Dr Cliona Kelly and Dr Sara Benedi- Lahuerta. The website presentations will take the form of some ‘fireside chats’, video clips and deep links to recent publications on Brexit.

Please keep an eye on our events section for updates reguarding this and all future events. 

Book Launch: Essays in Memory of Professor Jill Poole 

Book Launch in Aston University 2017

In 2017, the then Director of Centre for Common Law in Europe Professor James Devenney invited some SSoL colleagues to contribute to a collection of essays in memory of Professor Jill Poole. The collection which he edited (with Prof Rob Merkin) was launched in October 2018 in Aston Law School.

The Book was titled - “Essays in Memory of Professor Jill Poole
Coherence, Modernisation and Integration in Contract, Commercial and Corporate Laws”

Please find a link to the book (opens in a new window)here.

Intra-EU Common Law Network

Prospectively, it is intended to create institutional synergies by establishing a network for intensive research collaboration amongst scholars located in the three EU common law jurisdictions.

The step towards that ambition took place on November 27^th 2020 when the Director (Mary Catherine Lucey) and Deputy Director (Bernd Justin Jütte) met academics representing the University of Cyprus. The meeting explored potential avenues for research cooperation between these institutions. The Centre for Common Law in Europe proposed a series of online seminars which interrogate common research issues which are of significance in EU common law jurisdictions. It is planned to host a similar meeting with representatives from Malta in December.

ELI - Irish Hub

Mr. Justice McKechnie, Professor Maher, Professor Philippe, Mr. Justice Gilligan and Lord Justice John Thomas

In May 2019, a prestigious seminar- “New Directions for the Irish Legal System after Brexit?” was held in the School as the Irish Hub of the European Law Institute (ELI). Founded in June 2011 and based in Vienna as an entirely independent organisation, the ELI aims to improve the quality of European law, understood in the broadest sense.  It seeks to initiate, conduct and facilitate research, to make recommendations, and to provide practical guidance in the field of European legal development. The seminar was hosted by Dean of Law, Professor Imelda Maher together with Mr Justice William McKechnie of the Supreme Court, Mr Justice Paul Gilligan and Mr Paul Keane, Managing Partner of Charlton Reddy Solicitors. The highly distinguished speakers included Advocate General Gerard Hogan of the Court of Justice of the European Union, Lord Justice John Thomas (Former Lord Chief Justice of England and Wales) and Mr Justice William McKechnie.

The UCD Centre For Common Law in Europe intends to continue as the Irish Hub of the ELI.

Over 450 attend Society of Legal Scholars Conference in Sutherland School of Law, 2015

At the SLS Conference, The Right Hon. Lord Mance, (speaking) was part of a distinguished panel that included The Hon. Lady Wolfe, The Hon. Ms Justice O’Malley, The Right Hon. Sir Morgan and was chaired by the Hon. Mr Justice O’Donnell.

Four Events: One Week

For the first time in its 108 years, the Society of Legal Scholars (SLS) Annual Conference took place outside of the UK in 2017 on the theme The Diverse Unities of Law.  The UCD Sutherland School of Law was honoured to welcome this renowned legal conference to Dublin.  Professor Imelda Maher, now Dean of Law and President of the Society 2016-2017 was responsible for this prestigious conference  ably supported by a team a colleagues and enthusiastic student volunteers.   The Conference attracted over 470 delegates  in early September who presented over 300 papers  in 28 subject sections    The main conference dinner was in the magnificent setting of The Honorable Society of King’s Inns, with UCD alumnus Professor Conor Gearty   London School of Economics as guest speaker

Highlights of the SLS Conference in Dublin were three plenaries with distinguished panelists that included legal scholars and members of the judiciary of the UK and Ireland.  For the opening plenary ‘The Diverse Unities of the Common Law’ the conference was especially honoured to welcome Baroness Brenda Hale of Richmond (new President of The UK Supreme Court) as chair of the panel with Professor Ambreen Manji (Cardiff University), Associate Professor Kevin Costello (UCD), Professor Peter Cane (ANU and Cambridge University). At later panel on the theme of the conference the Society and the School were greatly honoured to welcome distinguished members of the judiciary from England, Scotland, Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland.  The Hon. Mr. Justice Donal O’Donnell (Supreme Court of Ireland) chaired the panel with The Right Hon. Lord Mance (UK Supreme Court), y The Rt. Hon. Sir Declan Morgan (Lord Chief Justice of Northern Ireland), The Hon. Ms. Justice Iseult O’Malley (Supreme Court of Ireland) and The Hon. Lady Wolffe (Senator of the College of Justice, Scotland).   The Society and School were delighted to welcome The Hon Mr Justice Frank Clarke, the new Chief Justice of Ireland who chaired a session in the environmental law section.

UCD College of Social Sciences and Law Principal, Prof Colin Scott (centre) chaired a plenary panel at the SLS Conference which included (from left), Prof Carol Tan, SOAS,  Prof Toni Williams University of Kent,, Prof Anne Davies, University of Oxford and Prof Carly Stychin, City Law School, London.

 ‘Leadership and Diversity in Law Schools’ was discussed in a panel of Heads of Schools (Professor Toni Williams (Kent), Professor Anne Davies (Oxford), Professor Carol Tan (SOAS), Professor Carl Stychin (City), and chaired by the UCD Vice-President for Equality, Diversity and Inclusion,  Professor Colin Scott.).

The location of the conference in Ireland was the inspiration for one of the seminars which focused on the contribution of the Irish Diaspora to Legal Scholarship. Panelists included Professor Liz Campbell (Durham University), Dr. Donal Coffey (Max Planck Institute, Frankfurt); Associate Professor Aileen Kavanagh (Oxford University); Dr Kanstantsin Dzehtsiarou (Liverpool). This seminar was chaired by Professor Imelda Maher, President of the SLS and Dean of Law in UCD.

On the final afternoon of the conference, a Joint Seminar of the Honorable Society of King’s Inns, The Society of Legal Scholars and UCD Sutherland School of Law discussed ‘The Common Law and Brexit: A New Frontier?. The panel consisting of Mr. Conleth Bradley SC; Dr. Catherine Donnelly BL; Ms. Caoilfhionn Gallagher QC (UCD law alumnus of the year 2017); Mr. Paul Gallagher SC Professor was chaired by Prof Conor Gearty.  

A joint seminar between the British Association of Comparative Law and the Irish Society of Comparative Law, organized with support from Dr. Marie-Luce Paris, was held before the SLS conference on ‘Comparing UK and Irish law: A Special Relationship?’ Outcomes of the seminar are available at this (opens in a new window)link.

On the first day, the annual SLS graduate conference was organized by a team of UCD PhD Law students led by Dr Andrew Jackson, bringing together those PhD students who were successful in the highly competitive call for papers.

The (opens in a new window)109th Annual Conference of the Society in 2018 will be held at Queen Mary University of London (QMUL).