Law and Government | Donna Marie McNamara

Donna graduated with a BCL (Law and Society) degree from Dublin City University in 2013 and achieved an LLM (First Class Honours) from University College Cork in 2014. She was a recipient of the UCC Faculty of Law Scholarship and worked as a legal research assistant to Prof. Mary Donnelly (2013-2014). In DCU, Donna has taught a number of undergraduate courses, including Legal Skills and Methods, Administrative Law, Criminal Law and Advanced Criminal Law. In 2015, she was appointed External Examiner for Cork Institute of Technology.

Donna also works with the Student Learning Service at DCU, delivering workshops and tutorials for undergraduate and postgraduate students. In 2016, Donna designed a number of workshops for law students, in conjunction with the Writing Centre and the School of Law, which provided training to students in legal skills and writing. 

Title
An Analysis of Ireland's Human Rights Obligations Towards Suspects with Cognitive Disabilities

Supervisors
Dr Yvonne Daly and Dr Aisling de Paor

Abstract
This PhD examines the rights of suspects with cognitive disabilities within the Irish criminal justice system with reference to international best practice. In particular, the rights contained within the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities will be used as a basis for law reform. Previous studies have proven that people with mental illnesses, learning disabilities and intellectual disabilities are over-represented throughout all stages of the criminal justice system. This research focuses on the pre-trial criminal process, specifically the arrest and police interrogation, in an effort to highlight the barriers to justice for suspects with disabilities. Drawing on international best practice and case law, this thesis will make recommendations for law reform in Ireland. It will also interrogate the value of the Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities as a tool of law reform within criminal law.

Interests
Donna’s interests lie broadly in the areas of disability law, mental health law, children’s rights, and criminal justice. She has a particular interest in the rights of children living in alternative forms of care and examined this as part of her LLM thesis, entitled ‘Child Participation in Irish Foster Care Proceedings: Assessing Ireland’s Compliance with Article 12 UN Convention on the Rights of the Child.’

Publications

Articles

Donna McNamara, ‘The Insanity Defence, Indefinite Detention and the UN Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities’ (Forthcoming) DULJ

Donna McNamara, ‘The Right of the Child to be Heard: The Case for Child Participation in Foster Care Proceedings’ (2016) 19(1) TCD Law Review, 151-174

Conferences and Seminars

Donna McNamara, ‘What does the CRPD Mean for Policing?’ Centre for Disability Law and Policy International Summer School, June 2017, NUI Galway

Donna McNamara, ‘Barriers to Justice for Suspects with Disabilities in Ireland’ UNESCO Chair in Bioethics 12th World Conference Bioethics, Medical Ethics & Health Law, March 2017, Cyprus

Donna McNamara, ‘Suspects with Disabilities and Policing: Lessons from the U.S.’ Edinburgh Postgraduate Law Conference, 20^th January 2017, Edinburgh

Claire Hendricks and Donna McNamara, ‘The Right to Legal Capacity and the Power to Make Personal Decisions’ ERC Voices Workshop on Contractual Capacity, 18 November 2016, Galway

Donna McNamara, ‘International Disability Rights Law: Irish Perspectives’ School of Law, Syracuse University, 6^th September 2016, New York

Donna McNamara, ‘Disability and the Criminal Justice System in Ireland’ Burton Blatt Institute, 1^st September 2016, New York

Donna McNamara, ‘The Right of the Child to be Heard: From Theory to Practice’ TCD Law Student Colloquium, 20^th February 2016, Dublin

Donna McNamara, ‘The Detention of Mentally Disordered Offenders in Ireland: Evolution and Contemporary Challenges’ European Society of Criminology Conference, 02-September 2015 – 05 September 2015, Porto

Donna McNamara, ‘The Role of the Mental Health (Criminal Law) Review Board in Ireland’ 7th Annual Postgraduate Criminology Conference, 31 August 2015, Queens University, Belfast

Education

BCL Law and Society, Dublin City University, 2013

LLM Health and Care Law (First Class Honours), University College Cork, 2014

Teaching

Lecturer, Legal Research and Methods, September 2017-2018

Lecturer, Administrative Law, 2016-2017

Lecturer, Legal Research and Methods, September 2015 - December 2015

Tutor, Criminal Law and Advanced Criminal Law, September 2014 - April 2015

Marking Assistant, Foundations of Law and Legal Research, January 2015

Internal Moot Court Examiner, December 2014       

Research

Respondent, The ERC Voices Project, April 2016 – 2018

Copy-Editor, The Routledge Handbook of Irish Criminology, March – April 2015

(Dr Yvonne Marie Daly, Dr Deirdre Healy, Dr Claire Hamilton, Dr Michelle Butler (eds.), The Routledge Handbook of Irish Criminology, Routledge, 2015)