21 December 2023
Testing the Limits of Deliberative Constitutionalism
On 14th December 2023, a parliamentary committee in Ireland issued a report recommending a referendum on inserting environmental rights, including rights of nature, into the Irish Constitution. The origin of those recommendations was the prior Citizens’ Assembly on Biodiversity Loss, which was formally linked to the committee. These events are another important chapter in the unfolding story of deliberative constitutionalism, with Ireland often cited as a leading example. The fate of the constitutional reforms proposed by the Assembly and the committee on environmental rights will provide important insights into: 1) when deliberative recommendations can gain the necessary political support for implementation; 2) whether institutional design can improve the likelihood of political support for citizen-led constitutional reform. Continue reading >>
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04 February 2022
Property, Proportionality, and Marginality
On 31 January 2022, the Irish Supreme Court delivered a landmark judgment that collapsed, at least in respect of remedies, a previously rigidly-drawn distinction between the private law rights and the public law obligations of housing authorities. The judgment breaks important new ground in emphasising the underprivileged and marginalised status of the Travelling community, and furthermore, in identifying that status as a factor that could weigh against the granting of an injunctive remedy. Continue reading >>
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