cearta.ie – Page 58 – the Irish for rights

Two very different stories in the media over the last few days have coalesced in my mind over the weekend. The first story is the announcement by the President of seven appointments to the Council of State. The second is the debate in the US about the recusal of Supreme Court Justices from forthcoming challenges to health care legislation.

The Council of State is established by Article 31 of the Constitution, and its primary role is “to aid and counsel the President”. The first meeting was convened by President Douglas Hyde on 8 January 1940, and a large painting of the event (pictured above left) by Simon Coleman hangs in Áras an Uachtaráin, in a reception room now called the Council of State Room. At the end of last week, the recently-elected President Michael D Higgins announced the appointment of Michael Farrell, Deirdre Heenan, Catherine McGuinness, Ruairí McKiernan, Sally Mulready, Gearóid Ó Tuathaigh, and Gerard Quinn to the Council.

Among the specific functions ascribed to the Council by the Constitution, Article 26.1.1 provides that the President may, after consultation with the Council of State, refer a Bill to the Supreme Court to determine whether the Bill is constitutional or not.…

Case Law: Cooper v Turrell – the assessment of damages for libel and misuse of private information – Hugh Tomlinson QC « Inforrm’s Blog

6 January, 20124 March, 2013

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| Defamation

Fourth, the Judge assessed libel damages in respect of a “non-media” publication of a serious libel to a relatively small number of important publishees. He pointed out that in 1993 the Court of Appeal had made an award of slander damages of £50,000 in respect of publication of an allegation of sexual harassment to a small number of individuals with whom the claimant had an existing professional relationship (Houston v Smith unreported December 16 1993; see Gatley on Libel and Slander 11th ed para A3.3) [97]. He made an award in the same sum to Mr Cooper and, in addition, an award of £30,000 to the Company.

via inforrm.wordpress.com

This award is worth contrasting with the obscene £10m recently awarded in the Irish High Court.…

The Volokh Conspiracy » The Original and Traditional Meaning of “Freedom … of the Press”

4 January, 20124 March, 2013

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| Freedom of Expression

Eugene Volokh’s article, Freedom for the Press as an Industry, or for the Press as a Technology? From the Framing to Today, 160 U. Penn. L. Rev. 459 (2011), available in its full PDF form here, has just been published;

via volokh.com

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Happy public domain day! – Updated

1 January, 20127 November, 2012

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| Copyright, James Joyce

The combination of sections 24 and 35 of the Copyright and Related Rights Act, 2000 (also here; implementing EU Directives) means that copyright in a literary work expires from the first of January, 70 years after the death of the author (and it is the same for artistic works). For this reason, 1 January is Public Domain Day in the EU (and other life-plus-70-years jurisdictions), if not in the US (see: Communia | CSPD | Dag Blog | Everybody’s Libraries | ex Africa semper aliquid novi Africa | Excess Copyright | Fair Duty | Michael Geist | Mike Linksvayer | Public Domain Day | Public Domain Manifesto | Public Domain Review | Techdirt here and here | The Atlantic Wire | Wikipedia).

I visited the National Wax Museum today, and, among the many photographs I took were the image of Joyce above left (click on the image for a larger size), and this sentence (presumably a facsimile of Joyce’s handwriting, quoting from a letter he wrote to one of the early French translators of Ulysses):

Note by James Joyce at National Wax Museum

The note says:

I’ve put in so many enigmas and puzzles, that it will keep the professors arguing for centuries over what I meant, and that’s the only way of ensuring one’s immortality.

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Contracts at Christmas

23 December, 201122 December, 2011

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| Contract

This is one of Stu’s Views wonderful law & lawyer cartoons.

Bonus 1: Have a look at the Christmas contract letters (the link is to the first of a funny series), between Bizzles LLP, representing Mr Timothy Taylor (referred to in the agreement as “Little Timmy”), of the one part, and Donner, Blitzen and Rudolf LLP, representing the Santa Claus Group, of the other part, concerning an agreement between for the delivery of Christmas presents.

Bonus 2: The Law & Humanities blog has collected a few other seasonal claims including Santa. Enjoy! And merry Christmas.…

Great post by @AndrewDMurray on The IT Lawyer blog: New Approach to Privacy (on AMP v Persons Unknown http://ht.ly/858g5)

20 December, 20114 March, 2013

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| Cyberlaw, Defamation

You cannot ask Torrent Trackers or the providers of Torrent Clients to block as they essentially cannot do so due to the nature of BitTorrent. What you can do though is prevent people from seeding Torrents if they are within the jurisdiction of the Court. Matthew surmised (and I agreed) that as AMP is not a celebrity (or in any way famous) anyone sharing the images was likely to know her personally either from her circle of acquaintances at home (ex school colleagues etc) or from University. These people would be based in the UK (England & Wales) and would be the key to seeding the Torrent. Take out the key Seeders and the Torrent would pretty much wither on the vine.

via theitlawyer.blogspot.com

Update: The judgement is now available on Bailii.

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Free speech for all, including the rancid BNP: Donald Clarke in @The_Irish_Times last Sat

19 December, 2011

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| General

A belief in free speech means absolutely nothing unless you exercise it to defend those with whom you violently disagree. Any moderate citizen can, without too great a strain, tolerate somebody at the other end of the democratic spectrum. The true test of such commitment comes when the reasonable person (of course, almost all of us think ourselves reasonable) runs up against a genuine spittle-flecked loon arguing for some school of totalitarianism. You find him or her dangerous? What they are saying offends your inner core? Big deal.

via irishtimes.com

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How does the Oireachtas work?

16 December, 20117 November, 2012

| 1 Comment

| General

Now, now; less of your cynicism about members of the Oireachtas (Irish Parliament) never working (or only working six or fifteen hours a week). The Ceann Comhairle (the Speaker of the lower house of the Irish Parliament) today launched A Brief Guide to How Your Parliament Works to explain how Dáil Éireann (the lower house of Parliament), Seanad Éireann (the soon-to-be-abolished upper house) and the Oireachtas (Parliament) Committees work. The guide has been awarded the Plain English Mark by the National Adult Literacy Agency for its accessibility, and if anyone reads it, the guide will certainly make the workings of the Dáil and Seanad more accessible (update: here’s an Irish Times report of the launch). It’s all of a piece with the slow move towards modernity on the part of a sclerotic Oireachtas. The venerable Oireachtas Report (whose late night tv slot was a time when only drunks and insomniacs are awake) has been supplemented by online broadcast of Oireachtas proceedings and – this week – by a dedicated Oireachtas TV channel on an Irish cable tv service.

The Ceann Comhairle gave an interview about this to the John Murray Show on RTÉ Radio 1, and the hoary old chestnut of proper attire for members of the Dáil and Seanad inevitably came up.…