The book 2013 marks the 60th anniversary of Ireland's ratification of the European Convention on Human Rights and the 10th anniversary of the Convention's incorporation into domestic law, by means of the ECHR Act 2003. It contains a wealth of essays and articles by leading experts which examine Ireland's engagement with the European Convention on Human Rights at international level down through the years as well as the extent to which the case law of the European Court of Human Rights has influenced domestic human rights law and administrative action through the vehicle of the 2003 Act. It analyses current Strasbourg jurisprudence on key issues and project its likely implications on law and policy in the Contracting States, with particular reference to Irish domestic law. The book addresses the difficult questions that arise for judges in both jurisdictions following the constitutionalisation of the European Union's Charter of Fundamental Rights in 2009 and the revised agreement of the EU's accession to the ECHR. The impact of the ECHR in Irish law is a particularly rich subject for analysis, given the strong tradition of rights review by the Irish judiciary in interpreting the fundamental rights guarantees in the Irish Constitution. While the Irish statute is superficially similar to the Human Rights Act in the United Kingdom, the context in which it operates is radically different, given the pre-eminent role of the Irish Constitution in shaping domestic human rights law. As well as outlining the specific domestic context in which the ECHR operates in Ireland, the book also includes comparative insights from the United Kingdom context as to the impact of the Human Rights Act to date in that jurisdiction. Additional themes of the book include the development of ECHR jurisprudence and its effects in the domestic setting on asylum, immigration, criminal justice, children, mental health patients, gender recognition and the limits and potential of the ECHR as regards combating poverty.

International Human Rights: Perspectives from Ireland examines Ireland's engagement with, and influence of, the international human rights regime. International human rights norms are increasingly being taken into account by legislators, courts and public bodies in taking decisions and implementing actions that impact on human rights. Featuring chapters by leading Irish and international academic experts, practitioners and advocates, the book combines theoretical as well as practical analysis and integrates perspectives from a broad range of actors in the human rights field.

This engaging textbook provides a critical analysis of the legitimacy and effectiveness of the European Convention on Human Rights and its practical operation. In a succinct way, the book investigates questions around the legitimacy of how the European Court of Human Rights develops its law, the obligations of states to comply with its judgments, the adequacy of the Convention in securing basic goods, and the effectiveness of the system in protecting rights 'in the real world'. It assesses some under-explored areas of the Convention that are often overlooked. Presenting a number of debates about the legitimacy and effectiveness of the system in a provocative and critical style, this book encourages debate, discussion, and self-reflection on how, when and why the Convention protects human rights in Europe. An ideal text for Law students at English and Welsh universities and higher education institutions taking a module in The European Convention on Human Rights (LLB or LLM level), and for GDL/CPE students and those taking the postgraduate LPC training course.

This book examines the jurisprudence of the Supreme Court of Ireland since its creation in 1924. It sets out the origins of the Court, explains how it operated during the life of the Irish Free State (1922-1937), and considers how it has developed various fields of law under Ireland's 1937 Constitution, especially after the 're-creation' of the Court in 1961. As well as constitutional law, the book looks at the Court's views on the status and legal system of Northern Ireland, administrative law, criminal justice and personal and family law. There are also chapters on the Supreme Court's interaction with European Union law and with the European Convention on Human Rights. The argument throughout is that, while the Court has been well served by many of its judges, who on occasion have manifested a healthy degree of judicial activism, there are still several legal fields in which the Court has not developed its jurisprudence as clearly or as imaginatively as it might have done. It has often displayed undue conservatism and deference. For many years its performance was hampered by its extreme workload, generated by its inability to control the number of appeals brought to it. However, the creation of a new Court of Appeal in 2014 has freed up the Supreme Court to act in a manner more analogous to that adopted by supreme courts in other common law countries. The Court's future looks bright.

In recent years, human rights have come under fire, with the rise of political illiberalism and the coming to power of populist authoritarian leaders in many parts of the world who contest and dismiss the idea of human rights. More surprisingly, scholars and public intellectuals, from both the progressive and the conservative side of the political spectrum, have also been deeply critical, dismissing human rights as flawed, inadequate, hegemonic, or overreaching. While acknowledging some of the shortcomings, this book presents an experimentalist account of international human rights law and practice and argues that the human rights movement remains a powerful and appealing one with widespread traction in many parts of the globe. Using three case studies to illuminate the importance and vibrancy of the movement around the world, the book argues that its potency and legitimacy rest on three main pillars: First, it is based on a deeply-rooted and widely appealing moral discourse that integrates the three universal values of human dignity, human welfare, and human freedom. Second, these values and their elaboration in international legal instruments have gained widespread - even if thin - agreement among states worldwide. Third, human rights law and practice is highly dynamic, with human rights being activated, shaped, and given meaning and impact through the on-going mobilization of affected individuals and groups, and through their iterative engagement with multiple domestic and international institutions and processes. The book offers an account of how the human rights movement has helped to promote human rights and positive social change, and argues that the challenges of the current era provide good reasons to reform, innovate, and strengthen that movement, rather than to abandon it or to herald its demise.

This ambitious, innovative project examines the principle of effective judicial protection in EU law over two volumes. The principle of effective judicial protection is a cornerstone of the EU's judicial system and is re-affirmed in Article 47 of the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the European Union. Since the 1980s the Court of Justice has used the principle to shape EU and national procedural rules; more recently, the principle has acquired an even more central role in the EU constitutional structure. In the second volume an expert team explores how the national courts have applied Article 47 and the principle of effective judicial protection. It takes a comparative overview of the case law to assess the level of convergence (or divergence) of the national courts' approaches. The questionnaire methodology allows for an accurate charting of national courts' application of Article 47 at the domestic level. Given the wide application of Article 47, the collection will be of interest to EU constitutional scholars, comparative lawyers, as well as civil servants at both the national and EU level.

Looks at immigration and asylum legislation and polices in Europe to investigate how immigrants are 'othered' by them.