School of Law and Government Hosts Judges’ Roundtable

05/06/2024

On Tuesday 28 May, the School of Law and Government hosted a roundtable with Professor Matej Accetto, President of the Constitutional Court of Slovenia, in conversation with Mr. Justice Brian Murray, Judge of the Irish Supreme Court. The topic of the event was “Comparing the common-law and civil-law approaches to constitutional review”.

The discussion was chaired by Mr. Justice John MacMenamin, Judge of the Irish Supreme Court, and it was co-hosted in association with the Centre for Constitutional Governance at Trinity College Dublin and the Sutherland School of Law, University College Dublin.

Distinguished guests included Supreme Court judges Gerard Hogan and Maurice Collins, and Úna Ní Raifeartaigh, Judge of the Irish Court of Appeal, who was recently elected as Judge of the European Court of Human Rights.

The roundtable was organised by Dr. Tom Hickey, Associate Professor in Constitutional Law, who reflected on the event:

We in DCU School of Law & Government were honoured to host this event. President Accetto is not only an esteemed judge of the Slovenian Constitutional Court, but also an esteemed scholar of comparative constitutional law, having studied and worked in universities such as Harvard, Cambridge, Lisbon and Tokyo. His paper was particularly insightful, shedding light on the similarities and differences between constitutional review in civil and common law countries.

Mr Justice Brian Murray also brought great scholarly insight to bear, complementing his vast experience as a lawyer and judge. His paper was fascinating. We were also glad to have the insights of Judges MacMenamin, Hogan, Collins and Ní Raifeartaigh, as well as academic friends from the University of Maynooth, from the Centre for Constitutional Governance at TCD, and from the Sutherland School of Law at UCD.

This kind of judicial-academic engagement has become more and more common over the past few years in Ireland, which I think is a very good thing. We in DCU wish to thank the Chief Justice for offering the event to us, and look forward to more collaborations of this kind in the future.

From left to right: Mr. Justice John MacMenamin (Judge of the Irish Supreme Court), Justice Maurice Collins (Judge of the Irish Supreme Court), Ms. Justice Úna Ní Raifeartaigh (Judge of the Irish Court of Appeal & Judge of the European Court of Human Rights), Professor Matej Accetto (President of the Constitutional Court of Slovenia), Mr. Justice Gerard Hogan (Judge of the Irish Supreme Court), Mr. Justice Brian Murray (Judge of the Irish Supreme Court), Dr Tanya Ní Mhuirthile (DCU School of Law and Government), Dr Tom Hickey (DCU School of Law and Government).