Irish Court Judgment on Rights of Transgendered

On 14 February 2008, the Irish High Court made an order declaring that sections of the Civil Registration Act, 2004 were incompatible with the European Convention on Human Rights because they do not make any provision for recognising the new gender identity of transgendered persons. The ruling was in the case of transgendered woman Lydia Foy, who began her legal battle for gender recognition and a new passport in her female identity in 1997.
This is the first declaration of incompatibility with the European Convention on Human Rights to be made by an Irish court since the Convention was made part of Irish law in 2003. The Court had indicated its intention of making the declaration in October 2007 but the written judgment has only recently become available and the formal declaration was made on 14th February.
The High Court judge, Mr Justice McKechnie, was very critical of the failure of the Irish Government to take any steps to recognise the position of transgendered persons following the Goodwin decision in the European Court of Human Rights in 2002 and following a warning by Judge McKechnie himself in an earlier ruling in the Lydia Foy case, also in 2002. He said that Ireland had become very isolated among Council of Europe member states on this issue.
A stay has been put on the implementation of the judgment for two months while the Government decides whether to appeal the decision. If there is no appeal, the Taoiseach (Prime Minister) will be required to report the court's decision to the Oireachtas (parliament) within 21 days.
Thanks to Michael Farrell for this.

Kosovo Independence Revives Secession Debate

Kosovo’s declaration of independence revives an ongoing debate in international human rights law about the right of peoples to self determination. Of course, the right is set out in common article 1 of the two International Covenants, but the real quarrel is about whether it includes a right to secede. As the former Yugoslavia was breaking up, the European Union established an Arbitration Commission to rule on the various claims of independence. Chaired by French judge Robert Badinter, it issued a series of opinions: http://www.ejil.org/journal/Vol3/No1/art13.html. Although the Commission did not pronounce on independence for Kosovo, the logic of its rulings would suggest opposition to Kosovo’s claim to statehood. The Badinter Commissions aid that the Republika Srpska, that is, the Serb portion of Bosnia and Herzegovina, had no right to secede. Serbs are going to have difficulty seeing any meaningful distinction between the denial of a right to secede of the Bosnian Serbs and an acceptance of a right to secede of Muslims in Kosovo, and they will have a point. A useful contribution to the debate about secession was delivered by the Supreme Court of Canada in 1998: http://scc.lexum.umontreal.ca/en/1998/1998rcs2-217/1998rcs2-217.html. Not only does the issue risk reviving conflict in the Balkans, it also contributes to other secessionist claims elsewhere in the world, which explains why states like Spain, Greece and Cyprus are at odds with other EU states on whether to recognize an independent Kosovo.
Thanks to John Ackerman for the url of the Badinter opinions.

Kosovo Independence Revives Secession Debate

Kosovo’s declaration of independence revives an ongoing debate in international human rights law about the right of peoples to self determination. Of course, the right is set out in common article 1 of the two International Covenants, but the real quarrel is about whether it includes a right to secede. As the former Yugoslavia was breaking up, the European Union established an Arbitration Commission to rule on the various claims of independence. Chaired by French judge Robert Badinter, it issued a series of opinions. I looked for these on the internet and couldn’t find them, although they must be out there somewhere. Although the Commission did not pronounce on independence for Kosovo, the logic of its rulings would suggest opposition to Kosovo’s claim to statehood. The Badinter Commissions aid that the Republika Srpska, that is, the Serb portion of Bosnia and Herzegovina, had no right to secede. Serbs are going to have difficulty seeing any meaningful distinction between the denial of a right to secede of the Bosnian Serbs and an acceptance of a right to secede of Muslims in Kosovo, and they will have a point. A useful contribution to the debate about secession was delivered by the Supreme Court of Canada in 1998: http://scc.lexum.umontreal.ca/en/1998/1998rcs2-217/1998rcs2-217.html. Not only does the issue risk reviving conflict in the Balkans, it also contributes to other secessionist claims elsewhere in the world, which explains why states like Spain, Greece and Cyprus are at odds with other EU states on whether to recognize an independent Kosovo.

UN Treaty Series available on line

Our library has just obtained a subscription to the UN Treaty Series. All registered students can access it at www.library.nuigalway.ie.
Apparently by coincidence, just as we made inquiries to subscribe, this service has been made free. Check: http://treaties.un.org/.

EJ Phelan Fellowship in International Law

The National University of Ireland has announced it is seeking applications for the EJ Phelan Fellowship in International Law. This is a very prestigious, and very generous, fellowship, worth 51,000 euro over two years. One of our students, Niamh Walsh, was awarded it the first year it was offered, in 2002.
Here are the regulations: http://www.mediafire.com/?5lgdjhygt2i. I sure hope that one or more of our students will apply. The first rule is that you have to be a graduate of the National University of Ireland. After that, it's all on merit. Good luck.

ICC news: another arrest, and a conference

A third suspect has been taken into custody by the International Criminal Court, Mathieu Ngudjolo Chui. A Congolese national and alleged former leader of the National integrationist Front (FNI) and currently a Colonel in the National Army of the Government of the Democratic Republic of the Congo [Forces armées de la RDC/ Armed Forces of the DRC ] (FARDC), he arrives today in The Hague. He is charged with crimes against humanity and war crimes. For more details, see the website of the ICC: http://www.icc-cpi.int/press/pressreleases/329.html
Also, I was just sent an anouncement of an important conference on the ICC being held in Florence in May: http://www.mediafire.com/?1tepbmzjylb

Conference on economic and social rights

Announcement of a conference on economic and social rights, in Lisbon: http://www.mediafire.com/?dzydn2pp2bm

Mireille Delmas-Marty

If you don’t yet know the writings of Mireille Delmas-Marty, you should. She is one of the great thinkers of our time on issues concerning law and society. Some of the works of Professor Delmas-Marty are available in English, including a book with Cambridge University Press and a recent article in the Journal of International Criminal Justice. She has a great website, and is disseminating her courses at the Collège de France on the internet. See: http://www.college-de-france.fr/default/EN/all/int_dro/index.htm

Conference on R2P

Cardozo University is holding a conference on R2P ('responsibility to protect'). See: www.cardozo.yu.edu/R2PConference

Research scholarships in post-conflict justice

The Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences has just announced research scholarships described as being in the field of 'conflict resolution'. They are funded through the Conflict Resolution Unit of the Irish Department of Foreign Affairs. On closer examination, the subjects include post-conflict justice, reconciliation and rule of law. I would be most interested in supervising a PhD student who develops a subject in this area, and who applies for the fellowship. first, check; http://www.irchss.ie/schemes/index.html. For details, see:
http://www.irchss.ie/schemes/scheme01/DFA/Statement%20of%20Themes%20for%20DFA%20Scholarships.pdf