There will be a public lecture by Ashley Gorski on

Litigating against Mass Surveillance in the US – The National Security Project at the American Civil Liberties Union

in the Swift Lecture Theatre, Room 2041A Arts Block, Trinity College Dublin (map here), next Friday 10 February 2017 from 6:00pm to 7:00pm. All are welcome to attend, and booking is not required.

The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) was founded in 1920 to defend and preserve the individual rights and liberties guaranteed by the Constitution and laws of the United States. Whether it’s achieving full equality for LGBT people, establishing new privacy protections for our digital age of widespread government surveillance, ending mass incarceration, or preserving the right to vote or the right to have an abortion, the ACLU takes up the toughest civil liberties cases and issues to defend all people from government abuse and overreach.

The ACLU National Security Project advocates for national security policies that are consistent with the Constitution, the rule of law, and fundamental human rights. The project litigates cases relating to detention, torture, discrimination, surveillance, censorship, and secrecy. Originally created as an informal working group after the September 2001 attacks, the National Security Project is now at the forefront of virtually every major legal battle relating to national security, civil liberties, and human rights.…

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There will be a public lecture by Professor Philippe Sands QC on

East West Street: A Personal Take on the Origins of Genocide & Crimes against Humanity

on Wednesday, 30 November 2016, at 7:30pm, in the Edmund Burke Lecture Theatre, Room 1008 Arts Building (map here), Trinity College, Dublin. All are welcome to attend.

Professor Philippe Sands QC is Professor of Law and Director of the Centre on International Courts and Tribunals at University College London, and a practising barrister at Matrix Chambers, London, specialising in international law.

His book East West Street: On the Origins of Genocide and Crimes against Humanity (Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 2016 | Amazon) won the 2016 Baillie Gifford Prize for non-fiction. Robert Gerwath, reviewing it in the Irish Times, said that it was “a rare book” that “adds genuinely new insights into the war or its legacies”, and “succeeds in bringing the subject to life even for those not primarily interested in the evolution of legal concepts”. Sands has been involved in a number of high profile law cases and has published extensively. He contributes frequently to The Guardian, Financial Times, London Review of Books and Vanity Fair.…

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There will be a public lecture on the Rule of Law and Asset-Grabbing (Reiderstvo) in Russia in the Neill Theatre, Trinity Long Room Hub, Trinity College Dublin, on Tuesday 15 November 2016, at 3:00pm.

Booking is now open.

Reiderstvo (asset-grabbing) is the illicit acquisition of a business or part of a business in Russia. A recent report on The Rise of Reiderstvo: Implications for Russia and the West (pdf) by Dr Louise Shelley and Ms Judy Deane analyzes this corrosive phenomenon. The report will be presented by Prof Louise Shelley (George Mason University); there will be a reply by Prof Neil Robinson (University of Limerick); and there will be ample opportunity for questions and answers. The event will be haired by Dr Ann Power-Forde SC (former judge of the European Court of Human Rights).

The first comprehensive examination of its kind, the report on The Rise of Reiderstvo: Implications for Russia and the West analyzes the evolution of business raiding and asset grabbing in Russia. It identifies the methodical tools and tactics used by business raiders and provides concrete examples of heretofore unexamined cases inside Russia, documenting the “playbook” for systematizing asset grabbing.

Prof Louise Shelley is the Omer L and Nancy Hirst Endowed Chair and a University Professor at the Schar School of Policy and Government, George Mason University.…

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Here in Trinity College Dublin, the GradLink Mentoring Programme aims to develop current students’ knowledge of the labour market and career paths, through nurturing career learning relationships with alumni mentors working in a range of career areas. The School of Law is participating in this year’s programme, connecting third year (Junior Sophister) students with graduates of the School who have kindly agreed to act as mentors, to pass on pass on knowledge and experience, and offer advice, guidance and information to our students on issues relating to their career and professional development. There are guidelines for mentors and students here (pdf). One past student said:

I very much enjoyed the GradLink Mentoring Programme as it gave me the chance to get advice from someone with experience in the field I wish to work in. It was invaluable to be able to take the time once a month to remove myself from thinking purely about college to think about my future and where I want to go. The wide range of advice my mentor gave me will definitely be helpful when I am looking for employment and the experience gave me confidence that people can find work in my area of qualification.

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Professor Gráinne de Búrca (pictured above left) will deliver the first annual lecture in memory of Arthur Browne (pictured above right) next Friday 13 May 2016, at midday, in the Davis Lecture Theatre, Room 2043 Arts Building (map here) on the topic

Is EU Anti-Discrimination Law in Decline?

Professor Gráinne de Búrca (pictured above left) is the Florence Ellinwood Allen Professor of Law in New York University School of Law, Faculty Director of the Hauser Global Law School, and Director of the Jean Monnet Center for International and Regional Economic Law & Justice. Prior to joining NYU in 2011, she held tenured posts as professor at Harvard Law School, Fordham Law School, and at the European University Institute in Florence. Before that, she was Fellow of Somerville College and lecturer in law at Oxford University from 1990-1998. She was deputy director of the Center for European and Comparative law at Oxford University, and co-director of the Academy of European Law at the EUI in Florence.

Arthur Browne (1756-1805) (pictured above right) was a leading Irish lawyer, academic, and politician, at the end of the eighteenth century. He was devoted to civil liberties, to the reform of Parliament, and to the relief of Roman Catholics from legal oppressions.…

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