Advanced diploma from King’s Inns demystifies process of quasi-judicial decision-making

The Advanced Diploma in Quasi-Judicial Decision-Making course returns to the King’s Inns in autumn 2020. Its focus is the law and skills which decision-makers require to hear and parse evidence to deliver robust decisions in myriad contexts. The course has proved to be a stimulating and practical hotbed of learning, reflection and networking.

Five separate elements interweave the fabric of the course. First, expert lecturers (including senior judges, chairs of quasi-judicial bodies, legal practitioners and academics) impart insight into core topics. Second, a comprehensive course manual provides a structural backbone to the course content. Third, small group tutorials and a workshop on unconscious bias achieve the twin goals of developing skills and creating space for discussion. Fourth, the course content is supplemented by online learning exercises and resources. Fifth, three assessments consolidate knowledge and underpin the Professional Diploma ultimately awarded to participants.

“The task of a quasi-judicial decision-maker is exceptionally difficult,” says Tricia Sheehy Skeffington BL, the deviser of the course and its co-ordinator.

Whether working with complex employment issues or social welfare appeals or sports or tenancy disputes, decision-makers are variously told they should be court-like, but they are not courts. They may have been set up to be less formal than courts, yet due process must still be observed. The decision-maker may have been appointed because of sectoral expertise, however now they are tasked with running a hearing in which constitutional rights and processes are engaged, albeit to differing degrees across the quasi-judicial spectrum.

“How you apply the principles of due process, not only to the particular law or rules that govern your sector, but also to the particular parties in front of you in either inquisitorial or adversarial settings, requires dexterous application of fundamental principles. That’s the skill set we wanted to refine and professionalise when we established this course,” says Sheehy Skeffington.

With a springboard of lectures and moderated panel discussion to stimulate debate, Sheehy Skeffington says that the ‘secret sauce’ of the course is its participants; “Whether the topic is vulnerable or challenging witnesses, managing process around interpreters, ethical considerations or the potential influence of unconscious bias, some of the most interesting questions, examples and strategies from real life practice often come from the floor.”

Participants include lawyers and non-lawyers, administrators and managers of tribunals and adjudications in various sectors, and current and future decision-makers. The course is designed to promote collaborative learning and sharing of experiences. This ensures that even when discussing high level principle, pragmatic considerations remain in view.

The course was devised to be largely delivered in-person with online elements sewn in. Many lectures are available to watch again online and participants can engage with supplemental forums and online exercises to keep a thread of continuity between the one-weekend-a-month format of in-person delivery.

In common with other courses, last year’s offering of the Advanced Diploma in Quasi-Judicial Decision-Making had to swiftly pivot to providing lectures and tutorials online only as the requirements of social distancing dictated. “Ironically, this kicked in for the sessions just after we had covered effective hearings in paper-based and online processes,” Sheehy Skeffington recalls.

The next course, running from autumn 2020 to early summer 2021, hopes to allow for (appropriately socially distanced) delivery in person of at least some of the content over the course of the academic year. However, it is set up to run unimpeded if the whole class, or individual participants, need remote access. Due to the intensive and interactive nature of the course, numbers are limited and there is a selection process in place.

Deadline in accepting applications for the 2020/2021 course is Friday, October 2nd, 2020. To view the course content and schedule, and to apply online, please click here.

About King's Inns

Based between Henrietta Street and Constitution Hill in Dublin 1, The Honorable Society of King’s Inns (King’s Inns) is renowned for professional legal education and training in many areas of the law. As well as being the home to future and qualified barristers, The School reaches a broad community of people with non–legal backgrounds in offering a wide range of accessible part–time and online courses in specialist areas of the law.

With courses taught by expert law practitioners, King’s Inns professionally trains leaders, advocates, innovators and game–changers, working across many industries in Ireland and abroad. The School is also a centre of excellence in promoting the use of the Irish language in the law.

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