Author: Eoin

Dr Eoin O'Dell is a Fellow and Associate Professor of Law at Trinity College Dublin.

Are some goats more equal than others?

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| General

Image of goat, via BBC news websiteLegal Eagle, on Skeptic Lawyer, tells us that a goat is being held on suspicion of committing an armed robbery in Nigeria.

Rather than being a page from George Orwell‘s Animal Farm, this is actually not quite as bizarre as it seems on first blush. A bear in Macedonia, which repeatedly raided a beekeeper’s hives, was found guilty last year of theft and criminal damage; and the wonderful movie The Hour of the Pig (imdb) reflects the common practice in the middle ages of putting animals on trial. I have already discussed some of the legal issues in my post Isn’t it funny, how a bear likes honey? I can feel a movie coming on about 419 scammers getting their goat!

In the meantime, Legal Eagle – who has been here before – asks about the current defendant:

I wonder what rights the goat has. Does it have the right to legal representation? To be treated equally before the law?

If these rights are provided to human defendants in the Nigerian courts, and if the law is anthropomorphically prepared to put a goat on trial, then of course Nigerian law should afford these rights to the goat as well.…

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More on Madoff, O’Brien, and Restitution

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| judges, Restitution

HSBC logo, via their site.Further to my recent post on Restitution in the news!, two pieces in today’s Irish Times caught my eye:

Breifne O’Brien faces new claims for €997,000

TWO MORE claims have been brought to court against Breifne O’Brien, operator of an investment scheme, for the repayment of money given to him. The latest claims, totalling almost €1 million, will increase to more than €14 million the sums sought from the businessman. Mr Justice Peter Kelly was told yesterday by Alan Doherty, for several claimants, that two other creditors of Mr O’Brien have issued proceedings. This followed the judge’s indication last week that anyone else with claims should move speedily.

Kelly J was busy yesterday, as the other story demonstrates:

Two Irish-listed firms in court bid to recover €1bn

WO IRISH-LISTED investment companies, which gave sums of more than $1.1 billion (€847 million) and €170 million destined for alleged $50 billion fraudster Bernard Madoff and his company to invest in the Irish arm of banking giant HSBC to administer, have initiated Commercial Court proceedings in a bid to get the money back. The holding funds in which the money is held have been frozen. … Mr Justice Peter Kelly … said he believed this was the first litigation here deriving from the “infamous” Madoff bankruptcy and he listed for hearing on Tuesday next applications by the companies to prevent their money being dissipated or removed outside the Irish jurisdiction without leave of the court.

…

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What’s on in Trinity?

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| Cinema, television and theatre

There are three really interesting things on in Trinity at the moment.

Body in the Library, via TCD.First, the 1930s Cleudo-style poster on the left is for a fascinating exhibition in the Old Library (the building that houses the Long Room and the Book of Kells) about crime writing in the 1920s and the 1930s. Showcasing the first golden age of the detective novel, the exhibition illustrates the origins of the detective story in the mid 19th century, and focuses on the growth in popularity of fictional heroes such as Sherlock Holmes, Father Brown and Hercule Poirot in the earlier part of the 20th century. [Update: more here]. One thing is sure: since academics have become overworked administrators, the body in the library is not one of my academic colleagues!

Lightwave logo, via Science Gallery website.Second, hot on the heels of winning an Irish Times Living Dublin Award, the Science Gallery is holding a festival and exhibition called LIGHTWAVE. Defy the Darkness. The festival features talks, workshops, performances and a very civilized LightClub conversation space, and the interactive exhibition will continue for another month.

Egise, via TCD.‘Sé an tríú rud atá ar siúl sa choláiste ná Égise na Trinóide 09. Chuir An Chumann Ghaelach agus Oifig na Gaeilge an féile bhliantúil Ghaeilge an Choláiste le chéile, agus beidh go leor le deanamh an seachtain seo chugainn [Leagan úr: féach anseo chomh mhaith].…

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Non-religious advertising

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| advertising, Uncategorized

The British Humanist Association (BHA) ran an entertaining advertising campaign on London buses last year, and it has just announced that it will run the campaign nationwide. The campaign is built around the slogan:

BHA advert, via their site.


However, religious groups – including Christian Voice – complained to the Advertising Standards Authority, arguing that the bus campaign broke the advertising code on the grounds of substantiation and truthfulness. The Guardian (hat tip: Media Law Prof Blog) picks up the story:

ASA clears Atheist Bus Campaign ads

… The advertising watchdog has ruled that a controversial atheist ad campaign, which sparked the ire of Christian groups for proclaiming “There is probably no God”, did not break its code …

See also: AFP | BBC | Index on Censorship | Telegraph | TimesOnline. From the ASA statement:

Atheist bus ad campaign is not in breach of the Advertising Code

… The ASA Council concluded that the ad was an expression of the advertiser’s opinion and that the claims in it were not capable of objective substantiation. Although the ASA acknowledges that the content of the ad would be at odds with the beliefs of many, it concluded that it was unlikely to mislead or to cause serious or widespread offence.

…

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Incitement

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| Blasphemy, Freedom of Expression

Agnes Ntamabyariro, via New Times, Rwanda.From yesterday’s Irish Times:

Rwanda jails ex-minister over genocide

KIGALI – A Rwandan court jailed former justice minister Agnes Ntamabyariro for life yesterday after finding her guilty of incitement during the 1994 genocide.

Ntamabyariro is the first senior former government official to be tried by the authorities in Kigali over the killing of 800,000 minority ethnic Tutsis and politically moderate Hutus.

“She has been individually implicated in those crimes,” Augustine Nkusi, Rwanda’s national prosecutor, told reporters. – (Reuters)

She is to appeal. The International Criminal Tribunal for Rwanda had convicted directors of the Rwandan radio station Radio Télévision Libre des Mille Collines (RTLM) of incitement to commit genocide (Case No ICTR-99-52-T The Prosecutor v Ferdinand Nahimana, Jean-Bosco Barayagwiza, and Hassan Ngeze; excellent background summary here), but this is the first such case in the Rwandan courts.

Geert Wilders, via the BBC.From today’s Irish Times:

Dutch MP faces prosecution for anti-Islam film

AMSTERDAM – Right-wing Dutch MP Geert Wilders, who has made a short film accusing the Koran of inciting violence, must be prosecuted for anti-Islam comments, an Amsterdam court said yesterday.

The court overruled the public prosecutor, who had argued that Mr Wilders, whose film Fitna urged Muslims to tear out “hate-filled” verses from the Koran, was protected by the right to free speech.

…

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Vicarious libaility in the Supreme Court

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| Irish cases

Four Courts dome, via the Courts.ie website.Law reports from today’s Irish Times:

O’Keeffe v Hickey [2008] IESC 72 Supreme Court, Judgments were delivered on December 19th, 2008 by Fennelly J (Murray CJ and Denham J concurring) and Hardiman J; Geoghegan J dissenting.

Fennelly J Minister not liable for abuse by principal:

There was no employment relationship between school principal Mr Hickey and the second-named defendant, the Minister for Education and Science. On normal principles, the State has no vicarious liability for the acts of a teacher appointed by the manager of a national school, and there is no legal basis for the imposition on the State of vicarious liability in this case.

Hardiman J Minister and State were distanced from management of the school:

… the Minister’s absence of direct control over the first-named defendant prevented a finding against him.

Geoghegan J (dissenting) Exemption from vicarious liability by State is not just and appeal should be allowed:

Applying “the general modern principles underlying vicarious liability”, he allowed the appeal.

In Short: Conference to mark life of Pat Finucane [html | pdf]; Carney lecture in Maynooth; Book on company insolvency; O’Brien -v- Piab solicitors…

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University fees are looking inevitable

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| college funding, Universities

TCD Phil logo, via their site.The question of the return of university fees has been a concern of this blog for some time (see, eg, here, here, here). Via the invaluable Ninth Level Ireland, I learn of three stories this morning on the issue. Cumulatively, they seem to suggest that university fees are looking inevitable (which, I suspect, means that the Minister for Education has managed this debate very well indeed, initially trailing an idea for discussion, then preparing the public for them, and now sitting back while the debate is broadly about what form they should take). …

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