A round-up of today's other stories in brief
Report on access to justice
The EU’s Fundamental Rights Agency has just launched its report on access to justice in Europe, finding that there are many obstacles to victims of discrimination enforcing their rights.
These include excessive length of proceedings, high legal costs and great variations in levels of compensation.
However, it also found promising practices in some member states including pro bono services, expedited procedures and alternatives to court.
The rights agency’s report was compiled by the Fralex expert group, whose senior member in Ireland is NUIG law lecturer Donncha O’Connell. The full report can be found on its website, fra.europa.eu
Conference on civil partnership
The school of law in Trinity College is holding a conference on the Civil Partnership and Certain Rights and Obligations of Cohabitants Act 2010 on April 2nd.
It will deal both with the rules governing the recognition of civil partnerships and with the rights and obligations of cohabitees.
For further details of costs and CPD points, please see tcd.ie/law/events or phone (01) 896 2367/2772.
Irish Association of Law Teachers
The IALT's annual spring seminar will take place in the Senate Room, NUI, Merrion Square, on Wednesday, April 6th, at 6.30pm, followed by a reception. Prof Conor Gearty of the London School of Economics will speak about his project, The Rights' Future: Exploring Dignity, Accountability, Equality and Commitment.
The inaugural IALT book prize will also be announced and the shortlist can be seen at ialt.ie/about-us/prizes competitions/book-prize/
Lecture on ECHR
The UCD school of law, in conjunction with the UCD Human Rights Network, will host a seminar by Michael O'Boyle, deputy registrar of the European Court of Human Rights, on the The Future of the European Court of Human Rights on Friday next at 6 pm in the Humanities Institute, UCD, Belfield, Dublin.
It will mark the launch of the master's in human rights programmes which are being jointly run by the UCD schools of law and of politics and international relations (SPIRe).
Admission is free and CPD certificates are available. To reserve a place, please e-mail sinead.hennessy@ ucd.ie
Mediation centre
A new mediation centre has been opened in Limerick by the Chief Justice, Mr Justice John Murray.
South and West Mediation Services, the Granary, Michael Street, will provide mediation for debt, familial, workplace and probate disputes. It can be contacted at 087 165 2057 or e-mail info @swmediationservices.org