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flacNewsI S S N 0 7 9 1 4 1 4 8 l V O L U M E 2 0 l N U M B E R 4 l O C T O B E R – D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 0

ELECTION 2011

In the context of animpending general electionFLAC has reflected on its

priority areas of work and callson all political parties to makeconcrete commitments toensure that human rights areprotected. Fundamental humanrights are not expendable andcannot be disregarded in timeso f economic uncertainty. Infact, this is the time whenpeople become even more sus-ceptible to potential infringe-ments of their basic rights.

While there are some excellentservices provided by the State andpeople within the public service whoare committed to ensuring that peopleare treated with respect and dignity, inall areas of our work FLAC encounterspeople who seek to access stateservices but are met with a lack ofconsistency, a lack of respect for theirdignity and who are denied theirfundamental human rights.

Those working within theseadministrative systems must recognisepeople’s rights and entitlements notonly to access services but to ensurethat their rights are upheld in a fair andefficient way.

Furthermore, reliable up-to-datestatistical information is essential toensure that fair policies which address

We ask all those seeking election in2011 to commit to implementingchanges to address these two coreissues which affect all aspects of publicservices in Ireland. In addition, we havea number of specific requests in relationto FLAC’s core areas of work, which arearticulated on pages 8 and 9.

F R E E L E G A L A D V I C E C E N T R E S

HHuummaann RRiigghhttss:: ““WWee hhaavvee ttoo bbeeaabbllee ttoo aaffffoorrdd tthheemm””

the actual needs of people are put inplace. Currently the information andstatistics available from the State inrelation to most of our areas of workare outdated and do not represent thecurrent situation for people affected bythe drastic changes caused by theeconomic crisis.

Michael Mansfield QC, who delivered the fourth annual Dave Ellis Memorial Lecture on Tuesday 23 November in the Pillar Room of the Rotunda Hospital.

“Now if you’re going to get a cut in civil legal aid and adwindling neighbourhood law centre, effectively you’re

going to get a population that is disempowered”

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flac News | Vol. 20, No. 4

F L A C N E W S l O C T O B E R - D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 022

iinn tthhiiss eeddiittiioonn......Michael Mansfied gives the Dave Ellis Memorial Lecture 2-3

Top criminal judge backs deaf juror 4

Law Reform Commission Launches Debt Reform Report 5

Deaf man mortified by jury decision 5

Implementation the key challenge for NGOs 6

ITM Law Centre wins historicequality case 6

Case Study: Fintan BannonVolunteering at FLAC 7

Debt Group report will help ifimplemented 7

Human Rights – an election priority 8-9

Economic crisis – opportunity toexamine principles and values 9

Habitual Residence Condition 10

Dáil Committee examinesdifficulties with Direct Provision 11

Seminar on Free Movement ofWorkers 11

Public Interest Law AllianceUpdate 12

FLAC news and events 13

Focus on FLAC: Gillian Kernan 14

New FLAC Centre at ‘Outhouse’ 14

Ireland’s human rights record to be examined in the Universal Periodic Review 15FLAC Fellowship Award 15

FLAC meets Transgender Advisory Group 16Young Bar Committee 16

FLAC NEWS is published quarterly byFree Legal Advice Centres Ltd.,13 Lower Dorset Street, Dublin 1.

Editors: Roisin Boyd & Peter Harper

Layout and Printing: Printwell Co-operative, Dublin 1

Contributors: Noeline Blackwell,Roisin Boyd, Saoirse Brady, Emer Butler,Siobhán Cummiskey, Deirdre Duffy, MichaelFarrell, Peter Harper, Paul Joyce, Jo Kenny,Gillian Kernan, Colin Lenihan, SarahMcCabe, Doreen Mescal, Zsé Varga.

ISSN 07914148The views of individual contributors do notnecessarily represent the views of FLAC.

With a legal careerspanning more than 40years, Michael Mansfield

is probably best known here in Irelandfor his work with the Birmingham Sixand the families of the Bloody Sundayvictims. A man who has, as FLACCouncil Chairman, Peter Ward,described, “challenged the long-heldassumptions of the legal and politicalestablishment,” Mansfield chose tospeak on the dangers the economiccrisis poses to the human rights of‘the indivisible humanity’ and the‘universal community’.

Mansfield presented the creation ofthe Welfare State in the UnitedKingdom as a watershed momentwhen a threshold, the equality ofopportunity and access, was set.Originally the Welfare State wasmeant to be built on four pillars –heath, education, employment andsocial security. However, only theNational Health Service – worthevery penny contends Mansfield – wasfully realised:

“The object, I think of much of ourstriving is to establish a humanityacross the world – that we reach outto the plight of others, that weunderstand the plight of others andwe don’t just write them off as theflotsam and jetsam of a materialworld... We cannot afford not toconstruct a place in which we’reproud to live, as opposed to abattleground of the marketplace.”

In his address, Mansfield also touchedupon the importance of making thelaw as accessible as possible to thepublic and tendered the ‘shop front’style law centre as the way forward:“The idea was you had a shop front.Not some glossy city firm, but just anordinary place where you feel you cango in and feel comfortable and there’sa sofa by the door.You can sit down.You’re attended to. Nobody’s going tobe pompous about it or expect you to

fill in lots of forms and they want toknow what it is that’s concerning you.”

However, that accessible andapproachable style of ‘community law’is under threat, particularly in the UK,as Mansfield explained: “The lawcentres are struggling to keep open.Two thirds of them are at economicrisk of closure”.

“We cannot affordnot to construct a

place in whichwe’re proud to live,

as opposed to abattleground of the

market place”

Furthermore, cuts to the legal aidbudget in the UK are threatening toeffectively limit access to justice:“£400 million is going to come off the£2 billion legal aid budget. These arethe areas that are likely to get no legalassistance in terms of aid... family,divorce, medical negligence, education,employment, immigration, welfarebenefits and some housing issues. Notmuch left. Now if you’re going to get acut in civil legal aid alongside adwindling neighbourhood law centre,effectively you’re going to get apopulation that is disempowered”.

Mansfield also advised, “that if youwant to change something, then youcan and you must.And you must standtogether to see it through. Becausethey, the authorities, are absolutelydepending on you being quiet, retiringto your homes and saying nothing.”

Mansfield recounted passionately hisinvolvement with the families of thosemurdered by British forces in Derryon Bloody Sunday, who against allcriticism persisted in their pursuit ofjustice: “I was in the Guild Hall inDerry, locked in there with the

Michael Mansfield gives the Dave Ellis Memorial Lecture

families who were allowed a previewof the report… and if you’ve everwatched somebody reading a letterwhich tells them something they’vereally been waiting to hear for 10, 20,30 years, there’s trembling, there aretears, there’s emotion welling upbecause the taint of terrorism whichhad in a sense shadowed their lives fellaway as they sat there. And you can’tsit there as a lawyer and not beaffected by the same thing – you feelat last that you have achievedsomething which was thought to beimpossible at the beginning.”

On the current situation of cuts andcurtailments, Mansfield declared thathe “will not accept the financialargument. The frontline services arenot the ones responsible for thesituation we are now in.They did notconstruct the shadow economy.They’re not the ones who didirresponsible speculative trading”.

Vigilance and a willingness to defendhuman rights against the onslaught ofcuts are required as Mansfieldemphasised:“Unless we’re prepared tosay we’re living in a world where themarketplace rules, in a few years timeI think we’ll wake up and realise howmuch has been lost that was foughtfor by generations before”.

Such past achievements include thevitally important document, TheEuropean Convention of Human Rights,as well as the Irish Constitution.Mansfield unflinchingly believes that“we need to read them on a weeklybasis just to remind ourselves of whatthe struggle was to establish the rightto life ... the right to liberty which iseffectively due process, fair trial,privacy, assembly and association.Theytrip off the tongue.They’re easy to say.But they are the qualities of our lives.And we have to be able to affordthem.”


F L A C N E W S l O C T O B E R - D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 0 33

s the Dave Ellis Memorial Lecture

Former Supreme Court Judge Mrs Justice Catherine McGuinness and FLAC co-founder,former EU Commissioner and Attorney General, David Byrne.

Michael Mansfield, Michael Finucane and Yvette Vanson.

Michael Mansfield, Yvette Vanson and Sarah Flynn, wife of the late Dave Ellis.

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FLAC CASEWORK UPDATETop criminal judge backs deaf jurors

T he State’s top criminal courtjudge, Mr Justice Paul Carney,ruled last November that a

deaf man could serve on a jury. JudgeCarney dismissed objections to havinga sign language interpreter in the juryroom but the DPP has told statesolicitors to oppose deaf personsbeing allowed to serve on juries.

Within days of Judge Carney’s ground-breaking decision, the DPP had sent acircular to state solicitors saying thathis decision was not binding andadvising them to rely on an earlier HighCourt judgment in order to resist deafpersons being sworn in as jurors.

Senan Dunne, the deaf man in the casedealt with by Judge Carney, was thefirst deaf person in the history of thestate to be told he could serve on ajury but, as it happened, he did not getto serve on the jury after all. He wasobjected to by defence lawyers undera rule that allows each side in a trial toobject to seven jurors without havingto give reasons.

Mr Dunne, a teacher in a school fordeaf children and a former producerwith RTE’s ‘Hands On’ programme fordeaf viewers, was called for jury servicein the Central Criminal Court, presidedover by Judge Carney, a High CourtJudge. It is the court where all the mostserious criminal trials are heard.

Senan Dunne required the assistanceof a sign language interpreter and thestate opposed him being allowed toserve on the basis of an old commonlaw rule against having a “13th person”in the jury room.

Judge Carney remarked that it wasunusual to have someone asking to beallowed to serve on a jury instead ofasking to be excused. In a consideredruling, he dealt with the ‘13th juror’argument, saying:

“[I]f the signer is allowed in the juryroom, first of all, it would be the foreman’sresponsibility to see that the signer simplycommunicated to the jury what wasgoing on and didn’t participate in anyfashion in the deliberations or make anycommunication of any kind to the otherjurors”.

On the issue of keeping the jury’sdecisions confidential, which had beenraised by the state, he said:

“I would be entirely prepared to have thesigner participate in this case as aninterpreter on taking, first of all, theordinary interpreter’s oath and thengoing on to take a further oath in relationto confidentiality”.

The DPP’s circular claimed that JudgeCarney’s ruling was not bindingbecause he had been told that MrDunne was going to be objected toanyway. Ironically, however, the DPP’scircular itself relied on an opinion byMr Justice Dan O’Keeffe in the JoanClarke case, which did not form partof his ruling in that case and so shouldnot be binding either. Judge O’Keeffehad said it was his opinion that the“13th juror" rule would prevent deafpeople from serving on juries, but hisactual ruling dealt only with howdecisions about potential jurorsshould be made.

In the period between the SenanDunne case and Christmas, FLAC isaware of at least two other deafpersons who were called for juryservice and turned up ready to servebut no jury was required. This issuewill not go away because deaf peopleare no longer willing to be treated asinferior to their hearing counterparts.

The Law Reform Commission hasalready said in a consultationdocument that the presence of signlanguage interpreters in the jury roomwould not interfere with jurydeliberations. The Commission isexpected to issue its final report onthis issue shortly. And in September2010 in a case from the UK (Szypuszv. UK), the European Court of HumanRights said that “post-retirementcontact with a non-jury member who wasnot associated with the prosecution” wasnot likely to give rise to seriousconcern where the jury was givenappropriate instructions by the judge.

US courts long ago agreed to let deafand blind persons serve on juries andhave had no problems since then.Serving on a jury is, like voting, one ofthe duties and privileges of citizenship.It is high time that this countrytreated deaf and blind persons as fullcitizens of this republic.

This issue willnot go awaybecause deafpeople are no

longer willing tobe treated as

inferior to theirhearing

counterpartsMr Justice Paul Carney


55F L A C N E W S l O C T O B E R - D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 0

T he final report of the LawReform Commission onPersonal Debt Management

and Debt Enforcement was launchedat the Commission’s annual conferenceheld in Dublin Castle on 16 Decemberlast. This followed the issuing of adetailed consultation paper in Sept-ember 2009 which sought submissionson an array of proposed recom-mendations for changes to the systemof debt enforcement in Ireland and anInterim Report in May 2010 thatsuggested a number of changes thatmight be implemented immediately.

Following the launch of the report byMr Justice Brian McGovern, judge ofthe High Court and some preliminaryremarks by the President of theCommission, former judge of theSupreme Court, Mrs Justice CatherineMcGuinness, full-time CommissionerPatricia Rickard-Clarke took theaudience through the proposals. Inbrief summary, the new structuresuggested is as follows:

• Though initial judgments in debt caseswould still be obtained in the courts,debt enforcement would be takenout of the courts and a new DebtEnforcement Office (DEO) would becreated to oversee debt enforcementand debt settlement in Ireland;

• A new non-judicial debt settlementoption would be introduced throughlegislation to act as an alternative tojudicial bankruptcy. An indebtedperson would be able to enter intosuch a scheme if 60% of his or hercreditors in value voted in favour ofa proposal. Over five years, thedebtor would pay an agreed portionof debts and would earn a fresh startat the end of that period. Theproposals for debt settlement wouldbe made by a ‘personal insolvencytrustee’ to the debt settlementsection of the DEO who wouldoversee its implementation.Where adebtor has neither assets nordisposable income, a Debt ReliefOrder may be granted effectivelydischarging the debts;

• The judicial bankruptcy legislation(i.e. the Bankruptcy Act 1988) wouldbe overhauled and would beavailable for large and complex casesnot amenable to non-judicial debtsettlement. The minimum debt levelwould be €50,000 and theautomatic discharge period would inprinciple be fixed at three years;

• Existing methods of debt enforce-ment – Instalment Orders,ExecutionOrders to seize goods and

Garnishee Orders – would beoverhauled and modernised.Attach-ment of Earnings Orders would beintroduced and imprisonmentrelated to civil debt completelyremoved.The DEO would decide onthe most appropriate form ofenforcement in any case havingregard to the principle of ‘propor-tionate’ enforcement – selecting theform of enforcement that isappropriate and least restrictive ofthe debtor’s rights;

• Debt collection undertakings wouldbe licensed with statutory codes ofpractice applying to their activities.Money advice/debt managementwould also be regulated and oneregulatory body should beresponsible for both.

It should be noted that the recentsupport programme agreed by thegovernment with the European Unionand the International Monetary Fundcommits the State to introducing newlegislation in the bankruptcy area byearly 2012. However, it is hoped thatthis process will begin long before that.Other speakers at the conferenceincluded Michael Culloty of MABS,Bernard Sheridan from the CentralBank and FLAC’s Paul Joyce whoaddressed the conference on thefuture of debt enforcement in Ireland.Paul’s paper can be viewed atwww.flac.ie.

Damien Owens, a deaf manworking for DeafHear inTullamore, was asked to

leave the jury box when a judge ruledhe could not serve on a jury. He saidhe was mortified having to walk outthrough a packed courtroom in thetown where he works.

Damien was the first deaf person totry to sit on a jury following thedecision in the Joan Clarke case (seemain story) that there could be noblanket ban on deaf jurors and thateach case must be decided on by a

judge.

He was called for jury service in theCircuit Court in Tullamore inNovember. His name was selectedand he took his place in the jury box.He was represented by FLACsolicitor Michael Farrell who outlinedthe effect of the Clarke decision tothe Court.

Counsel for the DPP then opposedhim being allowed to sit on the jurybecause he would need a signlanguage interpreter and because of

the traditional rule against a ‘13thjuror’ in the jury room.

Judge Michael White was sympatheticbut felt he was bound by the ‘13thjuror’ rule – Judge Carney’s ruling(see main story) had not been givenat that stage. He refused to empanelDamien Owens, who was then askedto leave. Damien had to walk outthrough the courtroom which waspacked with other people called forjury service, witnesses in trials due tostart, lawyers and Gardai.

Deaf man “mortified” by jury decision

Law Reform Commission Launches Debt Reform Report



Implementation the key challenge for NGOs

At the PILA organised seminaron Protective Cost Orders,held at the Law Library in

October, Iain Byrne of the inter-national human rights organisation,‘Interights’ gave a compelling talk onthe challenge of implementation fornon-governmental organisations –that is the task of ensuring that rulingsand decisions of both the judiciaryand other rights’ bodies are properlyintroduced into law.

Based in London, Interights workswith a staff of 20 in partnership withlocal, indigenous groups and NGOsaround the world in the area ofinternational human rights law. Theorganisation works by examining anissue to investigate whether it fallswithin the Interights’ strategic remitand to see if it can add value bygetting involved. It intervenes when alldomestic legal routes have beenexhausted and works in diverse areassuch as: economic and social rights;health and education; equality

including LGBT (Lesbian, Gay,Bisexual and Transgender) matters;and security and the rule of law.Ultimately, it brings international legalstandards and laws to domesticsituations.

More recent cases include one against

Romania, taken in partnership withrelatives of individuals who sufferedalleged human rights abuses in mentalhealth facilities.

While it is no small task in having acase admitted to the relevant court oflaw, Iain Byrne pointed out that themajor challenge, for both Interightsand other human rights organisations,is ensuring that the court rulings anddecisions are subsequently imple-mented properly. To address thisissue, some organisations havededicated officers who follow up toensure and press for the amendmentof existing laws or the introduction ofnew ones as necessitated bysuccessful judicial outcomes.

Echoing the contention made by IainByrne on the magnitude ofimplementation, FLAC’s MichaelFarrell commented: “For campaigningNGOs, work continues long afterlegal success to ensure theimplementation of decisions.”

On 7 December 2010, theEquality Tribunal found thatthe admissions policy of a

secondary school that prioritisedplaces for the children of past pupilsindirectly discriminates againstmembers of the Traveller community.Indirect discrimination is where anapparently neutral provision puts aperson protected under one of thenine grounds of the Equality Acts2000-2008 at a particular disadvantagecompared with other persons, unlessthe provision is objectively justified bya legitimate aim and the means ofachieving that aim are appropriate andnecessary (section 3(1)(c)).

The Tribunal found that thecomplainant, a member of the Travellercommunity, was disproportionatelyaffected by the ‘child of a past pupil’criterion as his father was statisticallymuch less likely to have progressed tosecond level education than the rest ofthe population at that time. TheTribunal heard that just 10 percent ofTravellers who attended primaryschool progressed to second level in1983 as against 66.4 percent of thegeneral population in 1982 (the timewhen the complainant‘s father wouldhave progressed to second level).

Furthermore, the policy could not be“objectively justified by a legitimateaim”. The aim of the policy was tofoster family loyalty to the school andpromote a family ethos with education.While the aim was consideredlegitimate, the Tribunal held that the“blanket priority” was notproportionate or necessary and that

there are other ways of achieving thisaim which would not disadvantagechildren whose fathers did not attendthe school, (e.g. a past pupils’ union).The impact on Travellers was found tobe disproportionate to the benefit ofthe policy.

Upholding the complaint, the Tribunalordered that the complainant beoffered a place in the schoolimmediately and that the schoolreview its policy to ensure that it doesnot indirectly discriminate againstpupils on any of the grounds coveredby section 3(2) of the Equal Status Act.This decision has implications for allschools with a similar policy and mayalso affect other groups covered by thenine grounds in the Equality Acts 2000-2008. Importantly, it serves to avoidcompounding past prejudices anddisadvantages suffered by Travellers inthe education system.

Irish Traveller Movement Law Centre Wins Landmark Equality Case on Travellers and the Right to Education

By Siobhan Cummiskey(Managing Solicitor, Irish Traveller

Movement Independent Law Centre)



CASE STUDYFintan Bannon – From Assistant Volunteerto Fully Qualified Volunteer

On 17 November, the Expert Group on Mortgage Arrearsand Personal Debt published its final report. FLAC, throughits Senior Policy Researcher, Paul Joyce, represented theinterests of consumers by participating in the Expert Group.The Report contained many recommendations which aim tokeep people in their homes and spare as many as possiblefrom repossession.

Among the main recommendations were:

• A new Mortgage Arrears Resolution Process which alllenders are obliged to introduce;

• The Mortgage Interest Supplement scheme be widenedand some of the more restrictive qualifying conditions berelaxed;

• The introduction of a new Deferred Interest Scheme whichwould allow a borrower to arrange with a lender to pay aminimum of two-thirds of the mortgage interest paymentuntil either 18 months interest has been accumulated intotal or for five years, whichever occurs first.

Commenting on the proposals, Noeline Blackwell, FLACDirector General said: “FLAC is aware of the very seriouseconomic situation the country faces but it is in theinterests of all of us that the mortgage debt problems beaddressed. These recommendations go some distance tohelp those in mortgage arrears and represent the first stepon the road to tackling this crisis. It is important that we donot become paralysed by the enormity of the problem.”

Volunteering atFLAC

FLAC depends heavily on the workof volunteers. The majority of ourvolunteers are qualified barristersand solicitors who give advice atthe network of legal advice centres.However, FLAC is fortunateenough to have other volunteerswho assist with administrative andcampaign work, which does notdemand legal qualifications butwhich provides invaluable supportfor FLAC's work.

In our FLAC centres we have agrowing number of assistantvolunteers, who support the workof the advisors. They help theadvisors find necessary leaflets andbrochures, do research online andhelp with our Data CollectionProgramme. The AssistantVolunteers not only help theadvisors, but also gain a lot ofexperience and knowledge as theyare present when advice is given.

In some of our centres we alsohave volunteer receptionists.Without these receptionistvolunteers some centres wouldnot be able to operate. We aretruly grateful to our receptionistsfor their continuous commitment.

We also involve assistantvolunteers in research thatsupports our campaigns. FLACmanages the work of its campaignvolunteers through differentworking groups.

After finishing myBusiness and Law Degreein UCD in 2008, I went onto sit the New York Barexam and planned tostudy for a MastersDegree in Trinity Collegethe following year.However, in themeantime, I found myselfwith a lot of free time andit was suggested to me bya friend to look intovolunteering. I thought, ifanything, it would be agreat way to pass the timeand hopefully I would pickup some good experience on the way.It was then that I saw the notice fromFLAC calling for a volunteer to workas a receptionist in a city centre cliniconce a week. I literally jumped at thechance!

At that time I would have givenanything to get experience in a legalenvironment and was really excited tobe helping the community at the sametime. I then got my first taste of legaladvice one quiet evening at the centrewhen one of the solicitor volunteersinvited me to sit in with him and fromthen on I just wanted to be more andmore involved. I informed Zsé (ZséVarga – FLAC Volunteer and Centres

Manager) that I was closeto qualifying [I was half waythrough sitting theQualified Lawyers TransferTest at the time] and shegladly gave me the chanceto visit two other centresin the city on a regular basisto assist the qualifiedvolunteers. Once I qualified,earlier this year, I was ableto give advice in one of thecentres while still workingon reception and assistingin two of the other centres.

The range of queries andclients is staggering so it is a real testof your legal knowledge not tomention a great way to enhance yourclient relations skills. People come toFLAC from all walks of life and thereis nothing like the feeling of helpingsomeone who is in distress.

As a law student, it all seems sodistant, as if it only happens in the lawreports or in a casebook. But everyevening, you can see how the lawaffects people’s lives and the essentialservice a lawyer can provide.To be ina position to provide that service freeof charge to those who would behelpless without it is immenselygratifying.

MMoorrttggaaggee AArrrreeaarrss EExxppeerrtt GGrroouupp RReeppoorrtt wwiillll hheellpp hhoommeeoowwnneerrss iiff iimmpplleemmeenntteedd

88 F L A C N E W S l O C T O B E R - D E C E M B E R 2 0 1 0


SOCIAL WELFAREGiven the difficult financialcircumstances in which many peoplecurrently find themselves, it isimperative that social welfare paymentsare protected and remain at a levelwhich will allow a person to have aminimum income and maintain anadequate and dignified standard of living.

Jobseekers supports, SupplementaryWelfare Allowance, rent supplement,and child benefit were all reduced inBudget 2011. These cuts will have ahuge impact on the very people who arealready the most susceptible to poverty.

The high rate of unemployment hasinevitably led to a huge increase in thenumbers claiming social welfarepayments. In FLAC’s experience, thishas resulted in delays, inconsistenciesand unfair decision-making, which has inturn led to increased pressure on theSocial Welfare Appeals Office.Administrative systems in theDepartment of Social Protection andthe Health Service Executive should berestructured to ensure that people canaccess all payments to which they areentitled in a timely way.

DEBTThe issue of over-indebtedness must beaddressed urgently. FLAC is calling forthe implementation of the recom-mendations published by the ExpertGroup on Mortgage Arrears as anurgent priority, including:

• Reform of the Mortgage InterestSupplement scheme;

• Early assessment of housing needwhere houses are voluntarilysurrendered;

• A commitment to continuouslyreview the Code of Conduct onMortgage Arrears;

• Establishment of a Mortgage ArrearsResolution Process;

• Sufficient access to financial and legalinformation and advice wherenecessary;

• The overhaul of personal debt andbankruptcy systems in line with theLaw Reform Commission’srecommendations;

• Regulation of debt collection andmanagement.

CONSUMER CREDITConsumer credit legislation currentlyconsists of the Consumer Credit Act1995 and Statutory Instrument No. 281of 2010, European Communities(Consumer Credit Agreements)Regulations 2010 which transposed thelatest European Union Directive onconsumer credit. This has resulted in abody of law which is extremely difficultto navigate. The law needs to beupdated and consolidated to produce apiece of comprehensive and straightforward legislation which will protectconsumers.

REFUGEE PROTECTION ANDIMMIGRATIONThe Immigration, Residence andProtection Bill, first introduced in 2007,has been reintroduced into theOireachtas on three separateoccasions. A change in Governmentpresents the opportunity to considerthe law pertaining to immigration andprotection separately. Both areas needto be addressed in updated legislationbut they must not be put together inthe same statute. The focus of refugeelaw is the protection of an individualfrom persecution in his or her countryof origin whereas provisions dealingwith general immigration matters areprimarily concerned with the State’ssecurity and entrance to andpermission to remain in the State fornon-Irish citizens.

As outlined in FLAC’s submission onthe IRP Bill, provisions in the existingdraft legislation which restrict migrants’access to public services, the courts andremedies should be removed forthwith.

An improved single procedure whichwill be carried out fairly and efficientlywill also ensure that people who seekthe State’s protection will not be left toendure the direct provision system foryears on end. The direct provision anddispersal system, which provides foodand board for people seekingprotection, should be abolished butwhile it remains in place, it should beadministered in a fair and transparentway.

HOUSINGArising from our work on mortgagearrears, FLAC has become aware ofserious flaws in the State’s socialhousing policy. The Government musttake a coordinated approach to theeconomic crisis and ensure that no oneis left without a home because ofdifficulties such as family breakdown,over-indebtedness or unemployment.The State has ultimate responsibility forall those who are left destitute;however government departmentscurrently seem to work independentlyof each other in addressing a person’shousing needs. A harmonised responseto the problem of homelessness as aresult of repossessions and evictionsneeds to be adopted and implementedas a matter of urgency. In addition, anyreview of the Rent Supplement Schemeshould ensure that no person in need ofthe supplement will be deprived of itand left without somewhere to live.

LEGAL AIDIn this anxious time the State should, ata minimum, commit to maintainingcurrent levels of funding and resourcesto those providing legal aid. Cuttinglegal aid will discourage and denypeople on low incomes access to thecourts and dispute resolution systemsthat other people will still be able toaccess. To deny people access to thesystem, or to the people who canexplain and interpret the system tothem, is to deny a very basic right andshould not be tolerated in a system

HHuummaann RRiigghhttss -- aann eelleeccttiioonn pprriioorriittyy



based on the rule of law. In November2010, two State-run law centres hadwaiting lists to see a solicitor of morethan eight months with nine morehaving waiting lists of five months ormore substantially beyond themaximum waiting period of two to fourmonths set down by the High Court ina 2004 case.

CONCLUSIONFLAC is calling on politicians and policy-makers to remember that the State hasvoluntarily signed up to internationalhuman rights treaties and we call on thenew Government to renew the State’scommitments under these internationalinstruments as well as ratifying the UN

Convention on the Rights of Personswith Disabilities and the UNConvention on the Protection of theRights of All Migrant Workers andMembers of Their Families. 2011 willhighlight these commitments as Irelandwill undergo examinations on its humanrights record under the UniversalPeriodic Review (UPR) and the UNCommittee on the Elimination of allforms of Racial Discrimination (CERD).

FLAC will continue to developproposals in the run up to the election,and looks forward to discussing themwith candidates – if readers have ideasor suggestions that they would like toinput, please contact us at [email protected]

EEccoonnoommiicc ccrriissiiss pprroovviiddeessooppppoorrttuunniittyy ttoo eexxaammiinneepprriinncciipplleess aanndd vvaalluueess

At the Dave Ellis Memorial Lecture,FLAC Council Chairman, Peter Ward,took the opportunity to reflect on thework of FLAC in the context of therecession and economic crisis.

Noting that Dave Ellis “would besurprised to realise that ... we appear tobe back in the same economic conditionthat we were in, in the 1980s when Davecarried out much of his pioneering legalwork,” Ward outlined the task facingorganisations such as FLAC who mustnow more than ever before strengthenand widen their work to provideservices to marginalised, impoverishedand isolated communities.

“In 1969, FLAC was established,” herecalled to the assembled guests,“around a core principle of equal accessto justice and that principle of equalaccess to justice encapsulates anattempt to place the concept of equality

which is enshrined in our Constitutionat the heart of any analysis of how ourlegal system works.

“...FLAC as an organisation has neverjust been about ensuring that a poorperson is put in contact with acharitable lawyer although it hasimportantly been that. But our work inisolated and marginalised communitiesand our work with other communityorganisations and fellow NGOs haveensured that we are engaged in aprocess of an examination about howour society is structured and how somany people are excluded from fullparticipation in the society.”

However, despite the challenges posedby the economic situation, there is onepositive which Ward singled out – theopportunity for an examination of theprinciples and values which underpinsociety.

“We do have an opportunity to radicallyexamine these fundamentals. If we areto survive and to thrive, rather thansuccumb to the mass emigration of ouryouth abroad, as we have done in thiscountry for centuries, then we mustattempt to harness all of the talents andenergy and creativity of our peopleequally... We must use theseopportunities to unlock [the] potentialand we are committed in thisorganisation to working in a deeper andmore effective way to achieve thesegoals.”

FLAC Council Chairman, Peter Ward S.C.

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FFLLAACC CCAAMMPPAAIIGGNNSS UUPPDDAATTEE:: IInnccoonnssiisstteenncciieess aanndd uunnffaaiirrnneessssccaauusseedd bbyy tthhee HHaabbiittuuaall RReessiiddeennccee CCoonnddiittiioonn

On 27 October Saoirse Brady,FLAC’s Policy and CampaignsOfficer, and Joe O’Brien,

Policy Officer with Crosscare MigrantProject, highlighted to the JointOireachtas Committee on SocialProtection,ongoing issues in relation tothe maladministration of the HabitualResidence Condition – a conditionwhich applies to all means-based socialwelfare payments and child benefit.While Crosscare’s presentationfocussed on the impact of thecondition on returning Irish emigrants,FLAC spoke about the negative effectthe condition is having on a number ofparticularly vulnerable groups includingTravellers, victims of domestic violence,EU migrant workers made redundantand asylum seekers. The rigidapplication of the condition tomembers of these groups without anyconsideration of their individualcircumstances is leading to hardshipand, in some cases, destitution.

In advance of the meeting, FLACcirculated its recently-published Guideto the Habitual Residence Condition toclarify the law in this area. However, theGuide will only work in practice if thelaw is understood by those applying itand the Condition is then administeredin accordance with the law.

In its presentation, FLAC argued thatthe lack of fair practice and procedurein social welfare administrative systemsis leading to bad or inconsistentdecision-making which has in turn puteven more pressure on the alreadystrained Social Welfare Appeals Office.FLAC recommended that:

• the obsolete two-year rule beremoved from the legislation;

• comprehensive training be madeavailable for Deciding Officers andCommunity Welfare Officers whichadequately explains people’s rightsto payments subject to the HRCand

• a common sense approach be takenand each case decided on its

individual circumstances .

Following the presentation from theNGOs, Ms Anne Vaughan and MrPhilip Melville, representatives of theDepartment of Social Protection,outlined the operation of the HabitualResidence Condition and referred tothe intricacies of EU law which make“the condition complex to understandfor our customers and staff”. In thislight, Ms Vaughan announced that thedepartment is currently reviewing itsown operational guidelines on thecondition “with the intention ofmaking these clearer and more user-friendly for deciding officers andcustomers alike”. Ms Vaughan alsocommended FLAC’s work on itsinformation leaflet on the HRC whichshe said had set down the material“very succinctly” and will be takeninto account in the review.

“The lack of fair practiceand procedure in socialwelfare administrative

systems is leading to bador inconsistent

decision-making”

Mr Dan Kavanagh, Deputy Chief SocialWelfare Appeals Officer discussed theincreased workload of that Office andsummarised the steps taken to dealwith the unprecedented number ofcases with which it is currentlydealing. He said that it is expected thatthe office will have received up to33,000 appeals by the end of 2010 andthat average processing times werecurrently 27.5 weeks and extra staffhas been taken on to deal with thisincrease in demand.

Deputy Michael Ring, Fine GaelSpokesperson on Social Protectionhighlighted problems encountered byreturning Irish emigrants andrequested clarification on the positionof a person moving to the State fromanother part of the Common TravelArea.The Department representatives

indicated that this issue would beaddressed in the revised guidelines. Inrelation to the delays in the SocialWelfare Appeals Office, Deputy Ringstated that the fact that people arewaiting for up to a year for the resultof an appeal “is wrong and deprivesthem of natural justice”.

Roisin Shortall, Labour Spokespersonon Social Protection asked the officialsfor details of the training provided todecision-makers while pointing outthe “significant inconsistency in theapplication of the HRC across thecountry”. She recognised the pressurethat departmental staff andCommunity Welfare Officers areunder and said that the proposal tohave a “reference centre” forprocessing complex HRC decisions“seems to make a lot of sense”.

Deputy Bernard Durkan of Fine Gaelstated his long-standing opposition tothe HRC and emphasised “thatshortage of money is not an excuse forabusive or repressive legislation andcan never be used as a basis for such”.

Fianna Fáil Deputy Thomas Byrnehighlighted the “deeply unfair”situation whereby an individual needsan NGO to advocate on his/her behalfin order to make a successful claim onHRC grounds rather than having adecision reached in a fair and efficientway. He claimed this was a “failure ofthe system”.

The department officials said theywould reflect on the comments madein relation to the administrativenature of the system but that issues ofpolicy are a matter for the Ministerfor Social Protection.

FLAC’s presentation, submission andGuide to the Habitual ResidenceCondition are available at www.flac.ieand a transcript of the Committeehearing is available at:http://debates.oireachtas.ie/FAJ/2010/10/27/00005.asp



T he Joint Oireachtas Committeeon Health & Children invitedthe Health Service Executive

(HSE) and the Reception andIntegration Agency (RIA), (theadministrative section of theDepartment of Justice & Law Reformresponsible for coordinating theprovision of services to asylumseekers), to appear before theCommittee on 12 October. Members ofthe Committee visited accommodationcentres for asylum seekers in Mosneyand Monaghan in August this year. TheCommittee members expressedconcerns arising from their visits toboth accommodation centres.

FLAC contacted each member of theCommittee prior to the meeting andraised a number of questions whichfocused on the rights of the child, theright to health of the residents inaccommodation, and the impact of theoperational administration of the directprovision system on residents. Thecross-party Committee was chaired bySean Ó Fearghail TD, and was wellattended with most political partiesrepresented.

The importance of establishing anindependent complaints procedure wasa strong concern raised by manyCommittee members. Under thecurrent system, complaints are dealtwith by RIA with no further right ofappeal as RIA states that its decision isbinding. This leads to a lack oftransparency and independence in thecomplaints mechanism.

The specific wording in RIA’s ‘HouseRules and Procedures’ document states“if you deliberately make false ormalicious complaints, it could reflect onyour character. This could have legalconsequences and, for example, couldaffect an application for ‘leave toremain’”. Committee members arguedthat having such wording in the HouseRules discourages complaints and couldhave a serious impact on individuals orfamilies considering making a complaint.

Chairman Ó Fearghail TD (Fianna Fáil)identified the important responsibilityof the State and its departments in lightof our history and the history of ourinstitutional abuse, where there was alack of openness and transparency inthe past. Kathleen Lynch TD (Labour)emphasised the lack of record keepingregarding complaints made. CaoimhghínÓ Caoláin TD (Sinn Féin) argued thatRIA had a “see no evil” mindset inrelation to residents’ complaints.

The inspection of centres was also apoint of concern for many of themembers including Charlie FlanaganTD, (Fine Gael), who referred to thestandards set by the Health Informationand Quality Authority (HIQA), and theabsence of HIQA’s involvement in RIA’saccommodation.

In the course of the hearing, NoelDowling, Principal Officer (RIA), agreedto speak with centre managers with aview to ensuring that from January2011, they will have an ad hoccomplaints recording system in place,which will be publicly available. He alsoagreed to “take another look” at theHouse Rules to see if the issueregarding false and malicious complaintscan be rephrased in a manner that willserve not to suppress a complaint.

FLAC welcomes this focus on directprovision and dispersal. However, thecommitment to reviewing the recordingof complaints will have very little impactif an independent and transparentsystem is not put into place. If peopledo not have faith in the system and arereluctant to use it, then any recordskept will not accurately reflect thenumber of and type of issues directprovision residents face.

FLAC will continue to lobby forsubstantive changes in the directprovision system to improve the livingconditions of people who are in thecare and control of the State while theyseek protection in Ireland.

DDááiill CCoommmmiitttteeee eexxaammiinneess ddiiffffiiccuullttiieess wwiitthh DDiirreeccttPPrroovviissiioonn

Seminar onFree Movement

of Workers

On 5 November, FLAC was invitedto speak at a seminar on the freemovement of workers in Irelandwhich took place at the Law Societyof Ireland. The meeting was chairedby John Handoll, Partner withWilliam Fry Solicitors, who is theIrish representative on the EuropeanNetwork on Free Movement withinthe European Union coordinated bythe Centre of Migration Law,Radhoud University, Nijmegen, (andsupervised by the EuropeanCommission).

Jo Kenny, PILA Legal Officer, madea presentation on behalf of FLACabout the impact of the HabitualResidence Condition on EUnationals. Other speakers includedLes Allamby of Law Centre NI,Catherine Cosgrave and HilkkaBecker of the Immigrant Council ofIreland, Mr Joe Shiels of the Centrefor Cross Border Studies, Eva Massaof the Law Society’s Law School aswell as a number of other prominentlawyers and academics. The JointSecretaries of the North-SouthMinisterial Council, also attendedthe seminar.

The speakers covered a range of EU-related matters including therecognition of qualifications, the‘Residence Directive’ [Directive2004/38/EC], reverse discrimination,cross-border issues, the situation forRomanian and Bulgarian workers aswell as the position of third countrynationals.

For more information on theEuropean network on freemovement of workers within theEuropean Union see:http://ec.europa.eu/social/main.jsp?catId=475&langId=en.



EExxaammiinniinngg CCoosstt aass aaBBaarrrriieerr ttoo JJuussttiicceeOn 29 October PILA hosted the thirdin its successful seminar series. Thistime the focus was on the barriers topublic interest litigation and positiveexperiences of public interestlitigation.

Patrick Dillon-Malone BL, Counsel forthe Irish Human Rights Commissionin the recent ‘Digital Rights’ litigation,noted the courts’ legitimate concernswith granting standing, e.g. theallocation of judicial resources; theneed to avoid “busybody” plaintiffs;and the reluctance to deal withabstract matters. Patrick nevertheless

noted that the non-governmentalorganisation plaintiff, Digital Rightshad been granted standing in a casewhich concerned protection of theright to privacy. A full handout ofPatrick Dillone-Malone’s talk can befound on www.pila.ie.

Iain Byrne, Senior Lawyer withInterights, discussed strategic litigationand the challenge of implementation(see page 6).

Jo Kenny, Legal Officer with PILA,launched the PILA report on ‘TheCosts Barrier and Public InterestLitigation’. Jo observed that the threatof an adverse costs order remains abarrier to public interest litigation andthat all the common law jurisdictions

discussed in the report had identifiedmeans of addressing that barrier, forexample the protective costs order. Joexpressed the hope that the reportwould stimulate discussion and debateas to how Ireland will tackle the costsbarrier.

The report and further onlineresources on barriers to publicinterest litigation are available onwww.pila.ie.

If any readers are interested incontributing to the ongoing discussionon costs and public interest litigation,please contact PILA at [email protected] next step will include convening agroup of practitioners to discuss lawreform in this area.

MMaarrrriiaaggEEqquuaalliittyyCCiivviill MMaarrrriiaaggee ffoorr GGaayyaanndd LLeessbbiiaann PPeeoopplleeOn 15 November 2010, PILAwelcomed Evan Wolfson, lawyer andlong-time civil rights leader in themovement for marriage equality in theUS, to talk about his work as a lawyerin the movement for justice andequality for same-sex couples.

PILA and MarriagEquality, an initiativeworking for civil marriage for gay andlesbian people in Ireland, co-hosted aroundtable to discuss issues of justiceand equality for same-sex couples.Encouraging discussion and dialogue,the roundtable provided opportun-ities for the attendees to sharelearning and to discuss what is nextfor same-sex couples and childrenwith gay and lesbian parents.

Following the roundtable, PILA andMarriagEquality held a reception atwhich Geoffrey Shannon, family lawsolicitor, addressed the need tolegislate for the children of same-sexparents, emphasising the importanceof a child-centred approach, whilstBrian Barrington BL outlined variousgaps in equivalence with marriage inthe Civil Partnership Act 2010.

PPuubblliicc IInntteerreesstt LLaawwIInnssttiittuuttee 22001100::EEuurrooppeeaann PPrroo BBoonnooFFoorruummPILA staff attended the Public InterestLaw Institute 2010 European Pro BonoForum in Paris on 18-19 November.Some 280 international attendeeswere at the forum and heard from awide range of speakers on a variety ofpro bono initiatives around the world.PILA Manager Larry Donnelly spokeabout the role of pro bono incombating poverty and socialexclusion in Europe. He discussed thetheme in an Irish context andreflected on those who now findthemselves poor and socially excludedfor the first time in the wake of theeconomic meltdown.

Larry highlighted PILA’s efforts toovercome barriers to public interestlitigation; to expand pro bono legalwork; and to reach out to current lawstudents, the next generation of Irishlawyers. PILA also took part in theNGO Marketplace at the forum andintroduced a new global audience ofpro bono advocates to its work.

‘‘KKnnooww YYoouurr RRiigghhttss’’PPIILLAA aanndd IIrriisshh CCoouunncciillffoorr CCiivviill LLiibbeerrttiieess ((IICCCCLL))LLaauunncchh NNeeww GGuuiiddeeOn 24 November, PILA ManagerLarry Donnelly and ICCL DirectorMark Kelly co-launched ICCL’s latestKnow Your Rights pack on theEuropean Convention on HumanRights. The pack was formallylaunched by Anthony Lester QC,who later addressed the ICCL’sannual dinner for legal practitioners.

PILA supported the publication ofthe pack and Larry Donnellycommented that: “One of PILA’smain objectives is to make the lawand legal system more accessible toall. The ICCL’s Know Your Rightspacks, which strive to inform peopleabout their legal rights andentitlements in plain language, play avital role in achieving this objective.As such, we are delighted to co-launch this pack on the EuropeanConvention on Human Rights.”

PPUUBBLLIICC IINNTTEERREESSTT LLAAWW AALLLLIIAANNCCEEUU PP DD AA TT EE

The ‘Know Your Rights’ Guideis available at:www.pila.ie andwww.iccl.ie



Legal interns are integral to the day-to-day work of FLAC. Nine interns currentlycall FLAC their professional home,contributing to different aspects ofFLAC’s campaigns and responding to thelegal queries of the general publicthrough our telephone informationservice.

An intern’s work requires strong generallegal knowledge, particularly of family andemployment law; these areas are heavilyqueried by the public. Thus internsreceive regular training, attending Family

Law and Employment Law courses run byboth the Ballymun Community LawCentre and Northside Community LawCentre in Coolock. These courses areaccredited by FETAC and require regularproject submissions and the completionof a final examination. They are notlimited to legal professionals. Eoin Coffey,one of the FLAC interns studying FamilyLaw through the Northside CommunityLaw Centre, is full of praise for thecourses: “They are a great way for thepublic to increase their knowledge offamily law.”

By undertaking these courses FLACinterns stay up to date with develop-ments in the law and ensure they areconfident and capable in assisting thepublic with their legal questions.

The Irish Human Rights Commissionheld a roundtable on the subject ofdirect provision and dispersal forasylum seekers on 12 October, thesame day as a Joint OireachtasCommittee meeting on the samesubject. Officials from the Departmentof Social Protection, the HealthService Executive and the Office of theOmbudsman attended the roundtable.No representative from theDepartment of Justice and LawReform attended.

The event was attended by a numberof NGOs working on asylum andmigrant issues. Issues discussedincluded social welfare provision,mental health difficulties, educationand the length of the asylum process.This event presented a usefulopportunity for those representingdirect provision residents to engagewith statutory bodies on some of thekey issues and it also provided thechance to feed into the Commission’swork on the CERD shadow reportwhich is available at :www.ihrc.ie/download/pdf/20101210101458.pdf

A mother and her two Irish citizenchildren who have been refused ChildBenefit have been given leave to judiciallyreview the decision. The mother, who isan asylum seeker from West Africa, is in arelationship with the father of thechildren, who is Irish, but they are not co-habiting because she and the children arein direct provision.

The Child Benefit claim was refusedbecause the mother does not satisfy theHabitual Residence Condition (HRC),even though the father does and FLAC isaware of other cases where motherswho do not satisfy the HRC have beenallowed to benefit from the father’sstatus. FLAC, which represents thisfamily, has been told that the reason forthis difference in treatment is that theparents are not co-habiting andtherefore are not recognised as a “familyunit”. The family are claiming that thechildren, for whose benefit Child Benefitis supposed to be provided, are beingdiscriminated against compared withother Irish citizen children because oftheir parents’ living arrangements. Thecouple’s relationship is stable and haslasted for six years and the father takes

an active part in the children’s upbringingand contributes financially to theirupkeep.

The case raises a number of issues,including what constitutes a “family unit”,which is much more widely interpretedunder the European Convention on HumanRights than by the Department of SocialProtection, and whether couples have toco-habit to be recognised as a family. Italso raises the question of access toprevious decisions of the Social WelfareAppeals Office – already raised inanother judicial review case. Access tosuch decisions would allow the applicantsto see how similar cases have been dealtwith in the past and whether decision-making is consistent.

On this issue, however, the AppealsOffice has claimed that it does not keepcopies of its own decisions – it is notclear whether they deliberately deletethem from their computers! Instead, theysend the decisions off to theDepartment of Social Protection, whichis the respondent in this and other cases.And the Department in turn says it doesnot keep a database of such decisionsand that it would be far too difficult andcostly to do so, despite the fact that theBritish and Northern Ireland authoritiesfile and publish similar decisions withoutapparent difficulty.

New Specialised Services atFLAC Centres

FLAC, in cooperation with the Citizen’sInformation Service for Dublin 2,4 and 6,has opened two new specialised services inthe Carmelite CIC on Aungier Street.Thereis a specialised Family Law centre operatingon the first and third Thursday of themonth. We also run a specialisedEmployment Law advice centre on thesecond and fourth Thursday of each month.The centres are by appointment only andbookings can be made by telephoning 01400 5971.

Our volunteers in these specialist clinicsare experts in the relevant area of law,namely Family, Employment andImmigration law. Approximately, one thirdof all enquires at FLAC centres are Familylaw related with employment lawaccounting for a significant number also.Asa result, FLAC also runs specialised centresin Dublin and Galway.

Irish Human RightsCommission Roundtable on Direct Provision

Continuing educationunderpins FLAC’s service to the public

Child BenefitDiscrimination Challenged



Gillian joined FLAC in 2007 asan intern, assisting MarcelaRodriguez Farrelly with the

Data Collection Programme whichshe had created in 2004.

Marcela envisaged a way of collectingdata from FLAC centres and theTelephone Information Line tosupport FLAC’s campaign work, toenhance the service FLAC providesand to highlight areas of unmet legalneed, particularly areas not coveredby the Legal Aid Board.

When Marcela left FLAC in 2007 totake up a post with UNHCR inBotswana, Gillian was assigned theposition of Research Officer and tookon responsibility for the programme.

Prior to working at FLAC, Gilliancompleted a B.A. (hons) in Economicsand Geography, a master in EconomicScience and an MSc (research) inHousing Policy in University CollegeDublin. While undertaking theresearch masters on the provision ofaffordable housing in Ireland she spentthree months as an intern with UNHABITAT in New York. It was therethat she developed an interest inhuman rights which ultimately led toher interest in FLAC’s work.

Gillian’s role at FLAC involvessupplying the FLAC centres with DataCollection Forms which legal advicevolunteers complete, recording thearea of law the client neededassistance with, whether the client hadalready spoken to a solicitor, as well asa synopsis of the advice given andreferral made.

The form also gives volunteer legaladvisors a chance to highlight anycases brought to a centre which bringto light injustice in core areas ofFLAC’s work, such as access to legalaid, consumer debt law reform,consumer credit law reform, andsocial welfare law procedures andmechanisms, e.g. the Social WelfareAppeals Office.

The forms are returned to Gillian forcollation and analysis. Similar detailsare recorded of all calls made toFLAC’s telephone information line andqueries received by email, which shecompiles to provide FLAC with up-to-date statistics, which are central to allFLAC’s work.

“For example, debt related queries toFLAC’s telephone information linealmost doubled from 56 calls inJanuary 2010 to 110 in November

2010. In contrast, family law queriesare consistent at one in four calls tothe information line and one in threevisitors to a FLAC centre,”commented Gillian.

In her spare time Gillian is a keenswimmer and scuba diver and waspart of a relay team to break theGuinness World Record for thelongest open water relay swim inCamlough Lake in 2009 covering adistance of 685.5km.

Much of her time at FLAC over thecoming weeks will be devoted topreparing the statistics, facts andfigures from the past year which willdemonstrate the issues affecting thosewho avail of FLAC’s service. Oncecompiled, Gillian will prepare the datafor FLAC’s upcoming annual reportwhich will cover 2010.

FFooccuuss oonn FFLLAACC:: GGiilllliiaann KKeerrnnaann,, FFLLAACC RReesseeaarrcchh OOffffiicceerr

New FLAC Centre at ‘Outhouse’On 7 November, a new FLACCentre opened in Outhouse onCapel Street, Dublin. Outhouse is aresource centre for the LGBT(lesbian, gay, bisexual andtransgender) community.

The FLAC Centre is open on thefirst Tuesday of every month.

Pictured are Sonya

Donnelly, LGBT Lawyers’

Association coordinator for

the FLAC Centre; Cormac

Gollogly, also of the LGBT

Lawyers’ Association, who

is the legal volunteer at the

new FLAC centre, and

FLAC Volunteer and

Centres Manager, Zsé

Varga.



I n October 2011, Ireland will beexamined for the first time byother United Nations (UN)

countries on our human rights record.This process is called the UniversalPeriodic Review or UPR.This is a newmechanism and is the first time thatUN states directly examine eachother on their human rights record.

One of the most exciting aspects ofthe UPR is the broad range of humanrights that are considered: from theright to health to the right to libertyto the rights of children, older peopleand people from minority groups.Structural challenges can also beincluded in the review. Ireland will beexamined on its obligations under theUN Charter, the UniversalDeclaration of Human Rights,voluntary pledges made by Ireland, aswell as international humanitarian law.

The UPR examination is based on thefollowing: 1) Information prepared bythe State, 2) a summary of informationfrom UN reports (containing informa-tion from monitoring bodies such asthe UN Human Rights Committee orthe UN Committee against Racism,other UN documents) and 3) a reportwith information from NGOs.

In preparing its report, the Irishgovernment must conduct a nationalconsultation exercise. This is a goodopportunity for NGOs and civilsociety to share their human rightsconcerns with national policy makers.

Civil society also has the opportunityto contribute to Ireland’s examinationby providing evidence directly to theUN about the situation on theground. We can use the UPR tohighlight the gaps in human rightsprotection within Ireland and as partof the examination the IrishGovernment can be held to accountfor its past performance.

Civil society organisations who wishto input into the UPR can do so bysubmitting a UPR stakeholder report.The deadline is 21 March 2011.Experience shows that therecommendations of civil society willbe stronger if we work together.

Sixteen organisations, including FLAC,have come together to develop a jointreport. A full-time coordinator hasbeen recruited by ICCL to work oncoordinating this. (Contact MaryO’Shea by email [email protected] by phoning 01 7995404).

To prepare for the stakeholder report,the steering group plans to consultwith groups and organisations aroundthe country and feed this informationinto the report.We hope that as manycivil society organisations and groups

as possible will contribute and sign upto the Stakeholder report.

The final result of the UPRexamination will be a list ofrecommendations made by othercountries on how to improve thehuman rights situation in Ireland.FLAC plans to use the UPRrecommendations to inform our workfor change in Irish law, policy andpractice until Ireland’s next UPRexamination in four year’s time.

A website for the UPR is currentlybeing developed. Please visitwww.iccl.ie or www.rightsmonitor.orgfor more information.

IIrreellaanndd’’ss hhuummaann rriigghhttss rreeccoorrdd ttoo bbeeeexxaammiinneedd iinn tthhee UUnniivveerrssaall PPeerriiooddiicc RReevviieeww

The following websites have

some very useful materials on

the UPR: Office of the High

Commissioner for Human

Rights:

www.ohchr.org/en/hrbodies/

upr/pages/UPRMain.aspx

and http://www.upr-info.org /

“Experience showsthat the

recommendationsof civil society will

be stonger if wework together”

FLAC is now inviting applications for the 2011 Thomas AddisEmmet Fellowship. See www.flac.ie for more information.

Jeff Walsh (left) is presentedwith the Thomas AddisEmmet Fellowship by MrsJustice CatherineMcGuinness. As part of theFellowship, Jeff, a lawstudent at TCD, spent nineweeks working in Seattle asa legal intern with theWashington AppleseedCentre for Public InterestLaw. Also pictured is MichaelMansfield, QC.

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MMaakkiinngg aacccceessss ttoo jjuussttiiccee ppoossssiibblleeFLAC has been working for equal access to justice for all people in Ireland since it was set up in1969. Forty years later, we are still campaigning, researching and providing practical help to peopleall over the country. In 2009, FLAC answered some 10,154 queries over its telephone helpline andprovided free legal advice to around 8,730 people via its centres around the country.

The current economic climate means increased strain on FLAC’s work load. If you would like to helpFLAC continue its work promoting equal access to justice for all, please consider making a donation to the organisation.

You can help FLAC by:8 Sending a cheque/postal order with your details to FLAC, 13 Lower Dorset Street, Dublin 18 Logging on to www.flac.ie and following the link to www.mycharity.ie8 Making a credit/laser card donation by completing and returning the donation form below:

Name: .............................................................................................................................. Amount: € ...........................

Address: ..............................................................................................................................

..............................................................................................................................

Card number:

Please debit my: Visa Mastercard Laser

Expiry Date: CSV:

I am : a PAYE taxpayera non-PAYE taxpayer

If you are a PAYE-only taxpayer, a gift of €250 or more could beworth up to an extra 72% to us!


T he Advisory Group set up bythe Government to draftproposals to recognise

transgender persons is expected toreport early in 2011. FLAC,Transgender Equality Network Ireland(TENI), and other interested bodiesmade written submissions and metwith the Gender Recognition AdvisoryGroup towards the end of 2010. FLACalso made additional submissions aftermeeting the group to clarify some ofthe points discussed.

Most bodies which met the AdvisoryGroup were impressed with theirpositive attitude and commitment todrafting a scheme that would fullyrespect the dignity of transgenderpersons. But there are somedifficulties with transgender laws inother European countries whichbrought in legislation some time agoand in our written and oralsubmissions, FLAC argued that Irelandshould try to avoid these problems atthis stage.

Two of these issues concernedpreconditions for recognising a

transgender person’s acquired genderidentity. Some European countries,but not the UK, Spain or Hungary,require applicants to undergo majorgender reassignment surgery beforethey will grant them recognition. Wepointed out that such invasive surgerymay not be medically advisable or mayeven be highly dangerous for sometransgender people. In fact theGerman Supreme Court and theAustrian Administrative High Courthave condemned such requirementsin their domestic law in recent years.

Other countries, including the UK,require transgender persons whowere married in their previousgender to divorce before they can berecognised in their new or acquired

gender. Otherwise they are afraid thatthis might seem like endorsing same-sex marriage. Some couples in thisposition want to stay together and wesuggested that it would beunacceptable to force couples whoare in a stable long-term relationshipto divorce.

Once again the German Constitu-tional Court and the AustrianAdministrative Courts have struckdown similar requirements. In theUK it has been suggested that couplesin this situation could divorce andalmost immediately enter into a civilpartnership, but this is not feasible inIreland where it is necessary to havebeen separated for four years prior todivorce.

Pictured is SophiaPurcell, BL,Chairperson of theYoung Bar Committeeof the Bar Council, agroup representingyoung barristers,which was officiallylaunched at the 4thAnnual Dave EllisMemorial Lecture heldlast November.

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