Open Competition for Appointment to the Position of Director of Research in the Law Reform Commission

The Law Reform Commission is committed to a policy of equal opportunity.

The Law Reform Commission will run this campaign in compliance with the Code of Practice for Appointment to Positions in the Civil Service and Public Service prepared by the Commission for Public Service Appointments (CPSA).

Codes of practice are published by the CPSA and are available on www.cpsa.ie

Telephone Number: (353) 1 637-7609 Email: recruitment@lawreform.ie

Web: www.lawreform.ie

Background Information on the Post

The Law Reform Commission is a statutory body established by the Law Reform Commission Act 1975. The Commission has five members—the President and four Commissioners (a full-time Commissioner and three part-time Commissioners).

The Commission’s role is to keep Irish law under independent, objective and expert review, to make recommendations for law reform that are responsive to the contemporary and anticipated needs of society in Ireland, and to make current law accessible for all.

Job Function

The Director of Research plays a key role in the work of the Commission, under its direction, as the leader and manager (with the assistance of the two Deputy Directors of Research), of the Commission’s legal research team. The Director of Research manages and assists the legal research team with a view to assuring an appropriate quality and level of output of the legal research work. This includes overseeing the background research for law reform projects by the legal research team and the preparation of draft scoping papers for those projects. It also involves providing oversight of, and editing assistance for, the relevant draft documents, including draft Consultation Papers and draft Reports prepared by legal researchers for consideration by the Commission.

The Director of Research will be a person with demonstrated experience in legal research and legal writing, and therefore the Director will also be involved in making written contributions to these draft documents, in particular where the Director’s research and writing experience will assist the Commission’s overview, and progress towards completion, of the research work in question. The Director of Research thus plays a key role in assisting the Commission in carrying out its role to produce an expert and thoroughly researched body of work containing published proposals for law reform.

Key Responsibillities

• Leading and managing (with the assistance of the Deputy Directors of Research) the Commission’s legal research team and generally supervising and giving advice and assistance, including editing of text prepared by members of the legal research team, with a view to assuring the appropriate high quality and output of the Commission’s work in a timely manner;

• Leading and managing the preparation and completion of draft documents and related material for the Commission, in particular, scoping papers, Consultation Papers and Reports (including, where relevant, draft Bills) related to law reform projects;
• Making written contributions to the draft documents, in particular where the Director’s research and writing experience is required to assist the Commission’s overview, and progress towards completion, of the research work in question;
• Assisting the Commission in developing and managing its ongoing programme of legal research to enable it to ensure progress through its Programmes of Law Reform and on statutory requests from the Attorney General;
• Attending Commission meetings, liaising and communicating effectively with Commissioners on all matters concerning law reform, and supporting the collegiate nature of the Commission's decision making;
• Actively participating as a member of the Management Committee and supporting other senior managers in their work, including in connection with the Commission’s research work on Access to Legislation;
• Assisting the Commission’s administration generally, including the preparation of annual business plans, annual reports and strategy statements;
• Preparing for and facilitating at seminars and meetings, whether internally or for outside audiences, and participating at such events on behalf of the Commission;
• Assisting (with the Deputy Directors of Research), at the request of the Commission, in drawing up a draft Programme of Law Reform for consideration by the Commission;
• Appearing when required by the Commission before Oireachtas Committees or other public committees or bodies or acting when required as spokesperson in relation to the Commission’s law reform projects;
• Undertaking such other research-related duties as may from time to time be assigned by the Commission.
• Lead the management of the legal research capacity.