Three Commissioners Appointed to Law Reform Commission

By GavinWalsh, Wednesday, 7th October 2020 | 0 comments
Filed under: 2020.

 

The Law Reform Commission is very pleased to confirm that the Government has appointed three Commissioners to be members of the Commission (in a part-time capacity), each from 1 October 2020 for five year terms.

The new Commissioners are:

Mr Justice Maurice Collins, judge of the Court of Appeal

  • Educated at University College Cork (BA) and the King’s Inns (Barrister-at-Law)
  • Called to the Bar: 1989
  • Senior Counsel: 2003
  • Areas of specialisation in his practice included constitutional law, administrative law and EU law, appearing in many leading cases in the Supreme Court and EU Courts
  • Appointed a judge of the Court of Appeal in 2019
  • Former Chair of the Incorporated Council of Law Reporting for Ireland

 

Mr Justice Richard Humphreys, judge of the High Court

  • Educated at University College Dublin (BCL, LLM), Trinity College Dublin (PhD) and the King’s Inns (Barrister-at-Law)
  • Called to the Bar: 1991 (Northern Irish Bar: 2001; English Bar, Middle Temple: 2004)
  • Senior Counsel: 2009
  • Appointed a judge of the High Court in 2015
  • Author of numerous articles in legal journals on a wide range of subjects, and author of a number of texts, including Index to Irish Statutory Instruments (3 volumes, 1988)
  • Appointed to Criminal Law Codification Advisory Committee in 2007
  • Formally and informally involved with the Statute Law Revision Programme since its inception in 2003 to date.

 

Dr Andrea Mulligan, Barrister-at-Law and Assistant Professor of Law, Trinity College Dublin

  • Educated at Trinity College Dublin (LL.B and PhD), Harvard Law School (LL.M) and the King’s Inns (Barrister-at-Law)
  • Called to the Bar: 2012
  • Areas of specialist interest include legal regulation of human reproductive technologies, including emerging and future technologies such as gene editing and human enhancement
  • Author of numerous articles in legal journals, including on human reproductive technologies and the constitutional aspects of international data transfer and mass surveillance
  • Commissioned by Special Rapporteur for Children Geoffrey Shannon to work on legal report on discovery of mass graves at Tuam Mother & Baby Home
  • Council Member, Irish Association of Law Teachers since 2019

 

Speaking on the announcement of the new Commissioners, the Commission President Ms Justice Mary Laffoy said:

“On my own behalf, and on behalf of the full-time Commissioner Raymond Byrne and the entire staff of the Commission, I very much welcome the appointment by the Government of Mr Justice Maurice Collins, Mr Justice Richard Humphreys and Dr Andrea Mulligan as members of the Commission. Their appointment continues the long-standing view of the Government, in accordance with the Law Reform Commission Act 1975, of the need to appoint eminent persons with expertise in a variety of areas of the law as members of the Commission. I would also like to thank the Attorney General for the great care he has taken in carrying out his role under the 1975 Act in nominating the new Commissioners for appointment by the Government. I very much look forward to working with our newly appointed Commissioners over the coming years as we carry through the Commission’s challenging work programme.”

 

Ms Justice Laffoy added:

“I would also like to take this opportunity, along with Commissioner Byrne, to pay tribute to the three part-time Commissioners whose terms of office came to an end on 31st August, Professor Donncha O’Connell, Mr Thomas O’Malley and Ms Justice Carmel Stewart. Their contribution to the work of the Commission has been of the highest standard and I wish to acknowledge that here. Their contribution has been especially valued this year because between March and August meetings of the Commission had to be conducted virtually. During that challenging time, they were especially committed to ensuring that by 31st August 2020 we were in a position to complete work on four projects which had been, and were continuing to be, under intensive consideration by them. In achieving that important result, I want to express sincere gratitude to my former colleagues for their tremendous work on those projects right up to 31st August last, which has led to an outcome which unquestionably is in the public interest.”

 

Background Notes for Editors

The Law Reform Commission is an independent statutory body. The purpose of the Commission is to keep the law under independent, objective and expert review; to make recommendations for law reform and to make current law accessible for all. The Commission’s website is www.lawreform.ie.

To be successful, law reform must be an inclusive process. As such, the consultation process is of central importance to the Commission's work. Consultation takes several forms:

preparing Issues Papers to stimulate debate and discussion on the issues under consideration;
receiving and considering submissions made in response to Issues Papers;
hosting seminars, roundtable discussions and meetings with interested parties, experts, practitioners and representatives of interest groups.

Our aim is to develop and reform the laws of Ireland to ensure that they are equitable, modern, fair and efficient. We pursue this aim through the production of our consultative Issues Papers (including related public consultative events), final Reports, and our work on Access to Legislation (comprising the maintenance of the Legislation Directory, a collection of over 380 Revised Acts and the Classified List of In-Force Legislation).

Approximately 70% of our Reports have influenced the content of enacted legislation. Our research work is also frequently cited in court decisions and in academic commentary.