Long Day

Yesterday was a very long day. I left my house at 8, and took the bus to Dublin Castle, where I attended the Law Reform Commission's Annual Conference, which was wonderful. The Law Reform Commission is self-explanatory, right? They make recommendations about how the law should be reformed. This conference hosted two speakers and then opened up the discussion to members of the public to make recommendations about which areas of the law the Commission should address. The speakers were Paul Gallagher, the current Attorney General, and Justice Michael Kirby, a world-renowned Australian High Court judge. Justice Kirby's talk lasted an hour, and it was absolutely riveting. He listed what he considered the 10 "virtues" of an effective law reform commission. Are you interested? If not, please skim the following. He argued that the commission must be:
1) Aware of the fundamental institutional flaw of our system of governance, which is that unlike civil law, the common law is not based on broad principles but on solutions to specific problems. Therefore, relying on the judiciary to reform the law is chancy, and the legislature is bad at dealing with either controversial subjects or "unsexy" subjects.
2) Consultative. Without the support and involvement of the public, it is unlikely that the government will pay any attention.
3) Empirical. They must look at how the law operates in fact, not just on verbal analysis of the law.
4) International. Justice Kirby spoke quite a bit about the relationship between Australian and Irish law, and warned against trying to "reinvent the wheel." He urged the Commission to look to the example of other common law jurisdictions.
5) Realistic and flexible, addressing a wide range of issues.
6) Independent.
7) Useful.
8) Patient.
9) Lucky. He urged the Commission to take advantage of the recently formed government to try and push some changes.
10) Confident and bold.
He then spoke about discrimination, and shared just a little bit about his experience as a gay man and reminded the audience that until one has felt the "sting" of discrimination, it is impossible to know what it is like. So, anyway, that was awesome, and it was great to listen to the public's suggestions about possible reforms. Both Michael and Paul, FLAC's solicitors, gave ideas.

After the conference, Christina, Ruth, and I went to the Cafe Irie, a little "Jamaican" cafe in the Temple Bar area, for lunch, and then to Marks & Spencers to do some shopping for the evening's event. Last night, FLAC hosted a presentation by the new Garda Ombudsman, which is an independent body that was formed in May to take complaints about police behavior. After the presentation, we had a little wine and cheese reception, most of which was consumed by the interns (naturally). It was really fun, but I didn't get home until almost 10! Luckily, this morning was beautiful and sunny for a change (although it is raining now), so I didn't have any trouble getting up and out the door.

Oh, I haven't even written about last weekend yet! I went to Bray with Brian, and we had such a good time - we went walking in the cliffs right above the sea, and it was beautiful, and they were having their Summerfest. I guess I'll write about it in more detail and post some pictures later. Our new cable box was also successfully installed. It's bad timing actually: for the first few weeks I was here, I really enjoyed the luxury of watching TV after a year of abstention, but just as we got new channels, it started to get old. And Grey's Anatomy has started to suck (I'm getting all caught up, because here they're still at the end of Season 2, which is pretty much when I went to Spain and stopped watching, but my roommates all watch it). Anyway, it used to be funny, and now it's a soap opera in which the men are pigs and the women are hysterical. What happened?

This weekend, the other Sampson fellows are coming into town. I am looking forward to seeing Emily, Emily, and Michiko. It will be nice to compare our experiences and hear about what they are doing.

Now I'm going to lunch.