A new website providing information on collaborative law will be launched by Judge Catherine McGuinness, president of the Law Reform Commission, on Wednesday next.
The website has been set up by the East Coast Collaborative Family Law Group, and the launch will also be attended by the president of the Law Society, James MacGuill.
Collaborative law is a new system for dealing with family law disputes where solicitors for both sides aim for an agreed solution that meets the needs of all concerned, especially children, to the greatest possible extent. All relevant information is placed on the table, and the traditional adversarial approach of vindicating the position of one client at the expense of the other is abandoned.
If the efforts at agreement through collaborative law fail, the parties must engage new solicitors to pursue the court route.
The website is at www.eccflg.ie/ema/index.php.
Ireland before committee in free travel case
The European Committee of Social Rights, a Council of Europe body that monitors the European Social Charter, will hear a case where Ireland is accused of discrimination against certain holders of Irish pensions by denying them free travel.
Free Legal Advice Centres (Flac), in conjunction with FIDH (International Federation of Human Rights) has taken the case over the Government's refusal to allow non-resident holders of Irish pensions to use the free travel scheme when in Ireland.
The complaint was ruled admissible last October and the Government has now filed its full submissions on the merits of the case and Flac has filed a response. The committee will now proceed to consider the case, possibly after an oral hearing.
Human rights lecture in Cork
Judge Navanethem Pillay, a leading South African lawyer, will give the second annual Distinguished Lecture in Criminal Justice and Human Rights on Thursday next, February 21st, to the Centre for Criminal Justice and Human Rights in University College Cork. She was the first woman to start a law practice in Natal province, South Africa, and the first black woman to serve in the high court in her country.
Ms Justice Maureen Harding Clark, the first Irish judge to sit on the International Criminal Court, will chair the lecture.
Judge Pillay is currently a judge at the International Criminal Court, serving in the appeals division. As a practitioner, she defended many opponents of apartheid. She was then elected by the UN General Assembly to be a judge at the International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda, where she served for eight years, including four years as president. She has written on and practised in international criminal, humanitarian and human rights law, and more particularly on crimes of sexual violence in conflicts.
New book on mortgage law
Mortgage Law & Practice by Dr Neil Maddox, a comprehensive guide to the legal practice surrounding mortgages in Ireland, was launched last week. The guide, published by Thomson Round Hall, is aimed at legal and financial professionals operating in this sector and provides detailed information on the legal rules governing all mortgages, including the law and procedure of repossessions and information on mortgage practice generally in Ireland from both a financial and legal perspective.