Eagle Gazette - Issue 1

Kindly supported by Matheson

Inside this issue

Don’t Call Me That!

Hazel Bergin discusses naming laws

Liz O’Donnell Juliette Mills speaks with the new Chairperson of the RSA and former Trinity alumna

Law Community Round-Up Keeping you up-to-date with the social side of things in the Law School

From the Editor

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he role both Law and lawyers play in society is constantly evolving. Richard Susskind famously predicts that the legal profession will change more in the next two decades than it has done in the last two centuries. As the future generation of Irish lawyers, it is we whom this rapid change will most materially affect. This means that we can no longer be entirely pre-occupied by merely ‘the Law’ but rather with the Law’s place among other social institutions and in society as a whole. It is upon this awareness and concern that The Eagle: Trinity College Law Gazette has been established. As Law students we need to engage with society’s wider issues. Our legal education gives us a unique ability to analyse these issues and proffer our own refreshing views. The articles which we are delighted to publish in this first edition of The Eagle are testament to this engagement and to the value it can offer to all of us.

More broadly, The Eagle: Trinity College Law Gazette aims to highlight all that is great about the Law School in Trinity College. This includes the intellectual ability of both staff and students, the many events, both social and charitable, that the student legal societies organise weekly, the School’s

distinguished alumni, and, overall, that extremely unique sense of community anyone who has been to a Law School Cabaret can assure you the Law faculty in Trinity exudes. It is my hope that The Eagle can in turn make its own valuable contribution to the great community we are lucky to be a part of.

I would like to extend a special thank you to our title sponsors, Matheson, for their kind support. Without their sponsorship, and that of our other sponsors Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Deloitte, this Gazette would not have been possible. I would also like to extend gratitude on behalf of the editorial team to those in the Law School who have been especially supportive of this endeavour, in particular Professor Oran Doyle and Professor Des Ryan. On a more personal note I cannot emphasise enough how grateful I am for the assistance of Lily Cantillon, Nicola Cavely, Ciara Cosgrave and Juliette Mills, who have been involved with this endeavour from its inception and without whom this Gazette would be a mere aspiration.

Clare Kelly Founder and Editor-in-chief

Editor-in-Chief Clare Kelly Senior Editorial Board Nicola Cavey Juliette Mills Ciara Cosgrave Lily Cantillon Junior Editorial Board Peter Marshall Róise Ní Mhaonaigh Eoin Hennessy Maeve McDonough Benn Ó HÓgáin Katie Glennon Illustrator Katie Glennon Photographer Tomasz Szykulski (L-R) Ciara Cosgrave, Lily Cantillon, Clare Kelly, Juliette Mills, Nicola Cavey

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All opinions and ideas expressed are those of the authors and not necessarily those of The Eagle: Trinity College Law Gazette.

Welcome

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am delighted to welcome the first edition of The Eagle: Trinity Law Gazette and am honoured to have been asked to provide a Foreword. Our Law School is a scholarly community, with staff and students alike dedicated to the pursuit of knowledge and understanding. The Eagle will help that community develop in two important ways. First, it will provide a valuable opportunity for students to write on current issues of legal and public controversy. The Trinity College Law Review has provided a space for student academic commentary; the space for student engagement with public affairs is just as important. Second, The Eagle will help to build our sense of community by ensuring that we are more aware of the many interesting and exciting projects in which both students and staff are engaged.

The Eagle arrives at the start of an exciting period for the Law School. The School Committee has taken a number of important decisions over the past few weeks. Most important is the decision to seek a new Law School building. A community needs a home and it is crystal clear that House 39 can no longer serve that purpose. We need a self-contained Law School with lecture theatres, classrooms, common areas and offices. Related to this, the Committee has mandated me to explore with the College the possibility of introducing a Graduate Entry Law Programme. The plan is that this programme, along with philanthropic giving (from alumni and others) will provide a revenue stream that can make the construction of a new building viable. I write this both as an alumnus myself and conscious that you are the alumni of tomorrow. We have a shared responsibility to ensure that future students can continue to receive the highest quality legal education in a physical environment that is fit for purpose.

The Law School welcomes two new members of the academic staff this year. Prof Giuseppe Mazziotti joined us last month. He will be lecturing IP law to undergraduates and helping to develop the LLM in International and European IP law. In January, Prof Mark Bell will join the School as Regius Professor. Prof Bell was formerly the Head of School at Leicester University and is the leading expert on European equality law. I am sure that you will join me

in offering Prof Mazziotti and Prof Bell a very warm welcome, particularly at the Cabaret, of which they are only vaguely aware!

Finally congratulations and thanks again to Clare Kelly and her editorial team for bringing The Eagle into existence. I am sure it will quickly become established as an integral part of our community.

Oran Doyle Head of the School of Law

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AI Development Séan Finan is in his third year of Law and French and is currently studying in Strasbourg as part of the Erasmus programme.

Intellectual Property to Intelligent Property

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gent Smith, the evolving virus. HAL the psychotic operating system. Skynet, the human-hunting superintelligence. Science fiction has long recognised the power of an artificial intelligence. The dawn of the technological age brought with it Frankenstein 2.0 and beta versions of the Golem of Prague. Our accidental and disastrously intelligent creations are no longer limited by rotting flesh or feet of clay; today’s stories are written in binary code and flashes of light.

The truth, however, is becoming stranger than fiction.

Today, the computer that beat the world chess grandmaster is twenty years old. Three years ago, IBM’s Watson, after ‘reading’ and ‘digesting’ all of Wikipedia, beat two human contestants in Jeopardy! and now advises nurses treating cancer patients.

Artificial Intelligence (AI) is developing at an astounding rate.

While Hollywood has adapted to the challenges of true AI, the legal community has not. So far, the law has failed to convincingly address two of the most fascinating and important questions of our time: the regulation and control of the development of AI and the legal status and potential rights of such an AI.

Rise of the Machines Futurologist Ray Kurzweil is a divisive character. He has been hailed as a visionary and vilified as the prophet of the “nerd rapture”. Indeed, Kurzweil’s predictions are dramatic. He speaks of “a technological singularity”, the point at which AI will surpass the human mind in every respect. The ability of an AI to improve its own performance and design even more intelligent machines at an exponentially faster rate will, he predicts, lead to an explosion of intelligence by 2045.

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Interestingly, he’s not alone. Nick Bostrom, director of the Future of Humanity Institute at Oxford University surveyed leading academics in technology and related fields. When asked about the likely date for the invention of true AI, they too gave an average prediction of 2045.

But what of the irreducible complexity of the human brain? In a computer, there is no single operation significantly more complex than the “on-off” binary switch. Yet a thousand layers of uncomprehending processes build up enough complexity to calculate the trajectory of an asteroid. Similarly, the complexity of the human mind can theoretically be broken into minute uncomprehending parts.

There is, in theory, nothing preventing the brain being reverseengineered or reproduced in a mechanical form, and subsequently bettered.

The last invention of man So why the pressing need for regulation? Surely artificial superintelligence will be the dawn of a golden age of mankind?

To use a much cited phrase, the problem is that artificial superintelligence will be the last invention of man. By definition, such an intellect would surpass our own, possessing the ability to improve its own design. The argument is that an AI, like any rational being, would have its own goals to pursue.

Nick Bostrom notes that “almost any goal that you specify would, if consistently pursued by a superintelligence, result in the complete destruction of everything we care about”. Almost any pro-human goal turns destructive when taken to its logical extreme. An AI designed to maximise human happiness and pleasure might decide to imprison the human race, and then artificially and permanently stimulate our dopamine glands. In response to the obvious solution of switching the machine off, Bostrum compares us to gorillas objecting to human behaviour; “Can they switch us off? Well no; they’ve already lost the game”. Due to the ability of such an AI to out-manoeuvre humans once established, we have only one chance to get its goals and priorities right.

With all that in mind, the lack of international control on the development of AI is astonishing. This is not to say that efforts have not been made. Numerous technical, ethical and legal conferences have taken place, notably the First International

Symposium on Roboethics (2004) and the International Conference on Artificial Intelligence and the Law (2007).

However, little progress has resulted.

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the lack of international control on the development of AI is astonishing Recent developments have made the need for international legal oversight more pressing. Over the last year, Google has acquired eight of the world’s leading AI research companies, and given them access to Google’s vast technical and data resources with a view to accelerating their work. They have also hired Ray Kurzweil as Director of Engineering. Admittedly, Google has established an ethics board to examine the implications of privatisation of artificial superintelligence, but one could be forgiven for wishing for independent or at least public input. The world needs to establish a multilateral and enforceable set of research regulations, which would allow continued work but force scientists to consider consequences as well as results.

Hath not a machine eyes?

Assuming we can establish control systems that result in the development of AI without the destruction of civilisation, there remains the question of an AI’s legal status. If multiple AIs can successfully integrate with human society, should they remain tools and legal non-persons or could a machine gain legal personality? Would we need a Universal Declaration of Machine Rights? Currently, the criteria for protection under the UDHR is simple; one must be born human. The rights which enjoy general consensus are largely those which we, as rational conscious actors, would like to enjoy and assume every other rational conscious actor would like to enjoy also. If a new form of rational conscious actor should emerge, should we not recognise its right to rights? What of a machine’s right to life?

Is it ethical, for example, to send robot soldiers to die in place of humans? If a programme can be exactly copied, can it be killed? Can a driverless car be held liable in tort as an autonomous moral actor? Should we allow AI’s autonomy in their actions or could it be moral to confine a consciousness to an existence of servitude as a simple computer?

Even as a thought experiment, the possibility of true AI gives fascinating insights about consciousness, morality and rights.

When the current state of scientific progress is taken into account, the questions become pressing. Suffice to say that we may be on the cusp of some very interesting times.

Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmncks sqlbb11116, Sex Fruit and Messiah: A Note About Naming Laws Hazel Bergin is a Senior Freshman studying Law.

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n 1991, Swedish couple Elisabeth Hallin and Lasse Diding, , had a son. They named him ‘Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116’—a moniker they declared to be a ‘pregnant, expressionistic development’ and an ‘artistic creation’ to be celebrated in a liberal era. The 43-character name was pronounced, naturally, ‘Albin’.

The story of Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116 is usually told with the parents portrayed as brave protestors standing up to Sweden’s restrictive naming laws. The story provides a diverting introduction to a topic that is understandably emotive. Sweden’s naming laws—the Namnlagen—require all parents to submit the proposed name

for their child within three months of its birth to the Skatteverket (the Swedish tax agency) for approval. If the name is judged to cause offence or embarrassment to the child, or if the name is patently unsuitable, approval is not given. The parents, having failed to register the name with the appropriate authority until their son was 5 years old, were fined 5,000 Swedish Krona (c. €550)and were denied approval for the name.

Sweden is not alone in legislating as to what parents may (or, more accurately, may not) name their children. France, Argentina, Iceland, New Zealand and Germany also have naming laws, while in America, certain States impose strict

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spelling regulations. In Massachusetts, for example, the total number of characters in first, middle and last names may not be more than 40. A Tennessee court in August 2013 ordered that a 7-month old child’s name be changed from ‘Messiah’ to ‘Martin’, the judge declaring that Messiah was a ‘title that has only been earned by one person … Jesus Christ’. The judge was later charged with violating Tennessee’s Code of Judicial Conduct. However offensive her decision may have been to the First Amendment, as well as to all other major world religions, she also pointed out that the largely evangelical Christian population of the town where the child lived could take offence to the name ‘Messiah’, which could thereby affect his wellbeing.

There is logic to this argument that has been largely ignored in the excitement over the stiflingly religious overtones of the decision. Studies conducted in 1954 and 1968 conclude that those who bear unusual first names are more likely to display emotional disturbance than those with more traditional names.

A 2009 study highlighted correlation (although not necessarily causation) between unusual names and juvenile delinquency. It hardly takes a behavioural expert to understand that people can be cruel to those who are different. Johnny Cash’s boy named Sue, who ‘grew up quick and … grew up mean’, and was forced to ‘roam from town to town to hide [his] shame’ can certainly testify to that.

Parental Autonomy v Childrens’ Interests Naming laws give rise to an obvious dichotomy between parental autonomy to name their child on one hand and the child’s interest of not having to endure a lifetime of unnecessary ridicule on the other. The 9-year-old New Zealand girl ‘Talulah Does The Hula From Hawaii’, who told friends that her name was ‘K’ for fear of being teased, springs to mind. In 2008, she was put into court guardianship so that her name could be changed to something less ‘socially embarrassing’. The judge’s ruling provides an amusing list of names that were caught in New Zealand’s name filter: ‘Stallion’, ‘Yeah Detroit’, ‘Sex Fruit’ and ‘Keenan Got Lucy’ were all banned. Others, including; ‘Number 16 Bus Shelter’ and a set of twins named ‘Benson’ and

‘Hedges’, somehow got through the net. This is a depressing snapshot of what parents are willing to put their children through for the sake of originality or amusement.

The Position in Ireland Ireland has no naming laws. By and large, there is probably little need for them. The list of the most popular baby names in Ireland in 2013 has a distinctively conservative flavour: Jack and Emily top the boys’ and girls’ lists respectively. Irish parents, it seems, tend to opt for the tried and tested labels. The Constitution’s strong protection of parental rights is another factor which would make the creation of any kind of naming law unlikely ,though it will be interesting to see whether Article 42A, amended following the Children’s Rights Referendum, will have any impact on this area.

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If the name is judged to cause offence or embarrassment to the child, or if the name is patently unsuitable, approval is not given.

Despite no obvious need, for such laws in this jurisdiction at present, and despite the ease with which naming laws can be dismissed as paternalistic and old-fashioned, the welfare of the child should outweigh the putative ‘right’ of a parent to name their child whatever they please. This is an argument which may become more important as Irish parents become influenced by naming practices elsewhere.

Names are not insignificant. Indeed, the right to a name is enshrined in Article 7 of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child. A name is how the world identifies us.

Naming laws are not intended to intrude onto the parental sphere, but are simply attempts by the legislature to ensure that each child has a chance to grow up without the burden of a name that makes the bearer a laughing stock.

As Shakespeare says, a rose by any other name would smell as sweet. But for ‘Number 16 Bus Shelter’, for the 60 Venezuelan children who answer to Hitler, and for Brfxxccxxmnpcccclllmmnprxvclmnckssqlbb11116, a rose by any other normal name would undoubtedly smell significantly sweeter.

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Freedom of expression Peter Marshall is a Junior Sophister Law student.

"Citizens of the People's Republic of China enjoy freedom of speechless of the press, of assembly, of association, of procession and of demonstration."

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t's better that a society observes constitutionally enshrined rights - otherwise, we risk defeating the purpose of printing the constitution itself. The most critical feature of all constitutional democracies is the freedom of expression. Any interference with this freedom is a telling hallmark of a totalitarian regime. The Chinese government refuses to identify and prohibit false speech because to do so assumes infallibility on the part of the government and thereby risks tyranny.

Therefore, to what extent do Chinese citizens enjoy freedom of expression and what does the recent Hong Kong 'Umbrella Revolution' mean for this freedom in the future?

Social Media at base of challenges to political authoritarianism The rapid development of social media and the internet in China has been influencing political change and sparking extensive discussion on the potential consequences for the country's authoritarian system. The government is understandably anxious about the free flow of information facilitated by the internet. For centuries, the government has ruthlessly suppressed any organised dissent inside China through coercion and strict information control. Many commentators have hoped that this surge in internet use would

facilitate political change and transform China into an open and democratic regime.

China faces particular challenges due to the nature of the internet. The ways in which it spreads information are at odds with Chinese political authoritarianism, the monopoly of public power and the state's control of mass communication. The Government are struggling to maintain the difficult balancing act between global economic and technology participation and resistance against the political values this participation may bring to China. The regime maintains high vigilance about anything which may stimulate freedom of expression and the exchange of ideas among citizens. Such freedom would inevitably lead to the questioning of the public power monopoly and perhaps inspire actions for change.

Chinese leaderships from Deng Xiaoping to Xi Jinping have never openly denied the necessity of reforming the existing political institutions, including the necessity of expanding the civic rights of Chinese citizens. Democracy and the rule of law are repeatedly claimed to be the goals of China's political transition toward modernisation. If we believe the government’s statements, it seems that political reform is no longer a taboo.

However in 2007, Zhang Jianhong, a prominent internet blogger was sentenced to 6 years in prison for online postings which the court in Zheijiang province deemed 'slanders' of the Chinese government. The Constitution that guarantees citizens the right to freedom of expression has been evidently violated by the same government purporting to protect those rights.

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The 'Umbrella' revolution

to Beijing that protesters hope it would be. The bigger concerns for Beijing are self rule movements in Tibet and Xinjiang. Any concessions to Hong Kong would embolden these movements and spark dissidence elsewhere in China.

When China reclaimed Hong Kong from the British, it was predicted that the end of colonialism would also spell the demise of Hong Kong's fledgling democracy. Traditionally, freedom of expression in Hong Kong served to legitimise British In essence, informatisation and bad governance have both colonial rule in the face of Chinese pressure. Press freedom contributed to the failure to establish constitutionalism in China. became the litmus test for Hong Kong's autonomy. The Moreover, China's economic power and the growing Chinese, in turn, felt the pressure to live up to this ideal. In international legitimacy of their ruling party have reduced the weight of international pressure that can August 2014, after years of tolerance, be used to force domestic right Beijing announced that at Hong Kong's improvements. The Umbrella Revolution next elections for their ruling Legislative does however indicate the birth of a council, only candidates approved by The ways in which the politically active new generation of the Chinese Communist Party will be internet spreads information Chinese citizens who are demanding allowed to stand. This not only breaches constitutional reform. However there is the 1997 terms but warns of the are at odds with Chinese a link missing - a way for their voices to tightening grip on Hong Kong. be translated into policy making. A political authoritarianism, Peoples Republic is fictitious if the Protestors believe that people power the monopoly of public power people can't participate. The communist will triumph as Beijing has rescinded revolution has derailed China from a the National People's Congress and the state's control of constitutional course by establishing a framework to implement reform. The mass communication. centralised unaccountable government.

Chinese government has never been With violent revolution a dead end and swayed by people power. The only progressive reform stalled, China's power it understands is it's own. One wonders why Beijing will never effectuate Hong Kong's constitutional odyssey is truly at a crossroads today. A New demand. Allowing Hong Kong to elect their own leader Republic must be established by the common people. How amounts to virtual self rule. The logical progression would such a movement will take place in a hostile institutional be for this to evolve into an independence movement. It environment is the most challenging question confronting the seems that the Umbrella Revolution is not the major threat Chinese people today.

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Man in the Mirror Michael Foran is a Junior Sophister Law student on exchange in Hong Kong

Imagine if the person looking back at you in the mirror was not you.

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n unsettling thought, but this is what members of the transgender community face every day, it is something we can only hope to understand. As a democratic nation which values human rights, it is essential that we legislate to support the transgender community in this struggle.

Legislative efforts to date: a lack of understanding The Legislature has thus far been relatively quiet on transgender rights, but the calls for change have been mounting and prospects of legal recognition are rising. Over the course of the last year, the Minister for Social Protection, Joan Burton, has proposed a Bill which seeks to ensure legal recognition for transsexuals who have transitioned or who are in the process of transitioning to their acquired gender. The Gender Recognition Bill is a huge step forward for the Irish transgender community, but it is far from perfect. Though it should be welcomed as an attempted solution by compassionate and considerate outsiders, it is regrettable that the Bill is undermined by its premise: it treats this as an issue of compassion and acceptance. The legal recognition of someone's experienced gender should be seen as a human right not as an act of kindness on the part of the State. The nature of this Bill diminishes that reality.

Lessons could be learned from Argentina. Article 1 of the Ley de Identitdad de Género, the 2012 Argentinian Gender Recognition Act, clearly defines the right of all people with respect to their gender identity. ‘All persons have the right to the recognition of their gender identity’ as well as to ‘…free development of their person according to their gender identity’. This is focused on the human rights of transgender people and not on accommodation or charity from the State.

It's a theme that encapsulates the Act as a whole, arguably making this one of the most progressive pieces of gender recognition legislation the world has yet seen.

The proposed Irish Bill somewhat lacks the Argentinians’ compassion. It contains a section that would require transgender people to divorce their spouses and dissolve their marriage or civil partnership as a precondition for recognition of their experienced gender. This is not only disproportionate and unfair, it is also arguably unconstitutional. Additionally there is an age restriction of 16 which, although better than the UK age requirement of 18, again fails to view this as a matter of human rights by disregarding the hardship faced by

transgender children. Finally, this Bill fails to make any amendments to the Equality Acts to ensure protection from discrimination is afforded to transgender people.

A stepping stone for meaningful change The Bill isn't completely without promise. One of the more positive aspects is the lack of a gender reassignment requirement in order to gain legal recognition. Such a clause, like the one evident in Hong Kong's legislation, forces hesitant people into a potentially dangerous procedure. The Irish Bill's alternative is a requirement that the applicant have medical confirmation that they are transitioning or have transitioned, which removes the requirement for surgery before legal recognition but does not remove it entirely. Instead the requirement is merely pushed back until some point after legal recognition. However, the presence of this requirement presents a situation which confuses gender with sex and places a binary lens on this issue.

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❝ Though the Bill should be welcomed as an attempted solution by compassionate and considerate outsiders, it is regrettable that the Bill is undermined by its premise: it treats this as an issue of compassion and acceptance.

The Bill is not perfect, but it is a marked improvement from silence. While it needs a facelift, in a comparative sense it is progressive, compassionate and accepting, which is what Minister Burton described as ‘the spirit of the Bill’. It is a stepping-stone from which an exceptional Gender Recognition Act has the potential to spring.

facilitate the means to change. It will allow for acceptance to be built into our laws, in the hope it can be translated into everyday life. Gender recognition legislation should mean that someday, we can view the Man in the Mirror as a reflection of the struggle which has been and gone rather than as a commentary on the struggle that is.

Legislation will never automatically result in a change in cultural attitudes towards the transgender community, but it may just

Legal Causes and Effects of Airstrikes Targeting ISIS Georgia Knapp is a Senior Sophister studying Law and German.

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otbeds of ISIS activity in both Iraq and Syria, have in the past few months been targets of heavy US airstrikes. Most observers would agree that the US has reason in attempting to eliminate ISIS, the non-state actor attributed with chilling mass atrocities, war crimes, public beheadings and displacement of thousands of civilians. The legality of the course of action undertaken by the US and its allies, is, however, another matter entirely.

Various international treaties have endeavoured to reduce the waging war as a political tool, now prohibited under international law. The UN Charter places severe restrictions on warfare, stating in Article 2(4) that States “shall refrain in their international relations from the threat or use of force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state.”

Force is permitted only in exceptional circumstances. Selfdefence is one of the routes by which a State can carry out military action. According to Article 51, “Nothing in the present Charter shall impair the inherent right of individual or collective self-defence if an armed attack occurs against a Member of the United Nations, until the Security Council has taken measures necessary to maintain international peace and security.”

The Security Council is enabled by its Chapter VII powers to authorise force in the interests of protecting international peace and security. The Security Council is however unlikely to come to the fore in the present circumstances, given that Russia has

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condemned airstrikes in Syria as serving to “exacerbate tensions and further destabilise the situation”. Naturally, any Security Council action is impossible without P5 approval, given the veto power of the five permanent members of the Security Council.

These members have a clear difference of opinion regarding Syrian matters. The Iraqi government has invited the US to carry out airstrikes against ISIS in Iraqi territory, legalising the actions of the Americans. Collective self-defence is an accepted and codified reason for instigating attacks against a hostile party.

Legality of Syrian Airstrikes But what of Syria? Both the US and Syrian governments see ISIS as an undeniable threat. This said, given US support of Syrian rebel groups coupled with the atrocious war crimes carried out in the name of the Assad regime, co-operation between the two countries is clearly impossible.

How then are airstrikes carried out in Syrian territory legally? To address this question, both the history and future of international humanitarian law must be examined.

The nature of warfare and of military actors has changed dramatically since the implementation of the Geneva Conventions. Terrorism has come to the fore as a international security issue, presenting a hitherto unusual and unknown

method of waging war. Terrorism’s non-traditional characteristics mean that it cannot be combatted with traditional lawful means.

Diplomatic processes may prove successful in interstate contexts, but terrorist groups and numerous splinter cells prove a much more difficult problem to target.

Where does this problem leave the law? Terrorism was not a rampant international problem when the Geneva Conventions were drafted. It is not over-dramatic to suggest that international law and relations, the role of the UN and the effects of warfare have changed irrevocable since 9/11. So too has the relevance of classic codified international humanitarian law.

international humanitarian law and could possibly finally clarify this murky area of international law. Another unclear area of law is the ‘Unwilling or Unable’ doctrine to justify use of force against non-state actors operating in the territory of a third party.

Depending on their outcome and the international community’s reaction, these airstrikes could prove another milestone event with a dramatic effect on the evolving area of international law.

The rise of terrorism in the modern era and the rapid pace at which it has advanced has meant that international humanitarian law has often lagged horrendously behind. States will implement a liberal interpretation of the law in order to justify protecting themselves against these unpredictable and sometimes immeasurable threats from invisible non-state actors operating in the territory of a third party. The laws of war drafted an implemented in the mid-20th century are largely irrelevant, out-dated and ineffective in controlling the often unknown capabilities of highly organised terrorist groups.

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Collective self-defence has traditionally only been applied to conflicts between state actors. In order to effectively combat the surge of terrorist activities however, the law must adapt to new circumstances. The US argument for justification is that Syria is unwilling and unable to adequately combat the growing threat of ISIS movements against Iraq, and that intervention is necessary in order to protect Iraqi citizens.

The rise of terrorism in the modern era and the rapid pace at which it has advanced has meant that international humanitarian law has often lagged horrendously behind

These arguments are par for the course and are realistically the only avenues open to the US for justifying their actions. Security Council intervention remains a no-go in light of Russia and China’s positions as allies of Assad.

The ‘Responsibility to Protect’ doctrine has no real application and is not a persuasive argument. The right to self-defence against both state and non-state actors is a hot topic in

Wars are no longer fought on battlefields: mass attacks directed primarily at civilian populations require a much different approach. The US and others have in the past use been seen to use creative interpretations of international law as justification for using warfare as a method of foreign policy. The use of airstrikes may be essential in order to push international law into a new and necessary direction capable of combatting terrorism.

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Not Even Athletes Can Run from the Law: Justin Gatlin and Doping in Athletics Áine McCabe and Emily Kavanagh are Junior Freshmen studying Law and French

How should our past impact upon our future?

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ustin Gatlin is a world famous American sprinter and an Olympic gold medalist. However, two doping bans can sometimes eclipse his athletic achievements and place him in the limelight for all the wrong reasons.

In 2001, at the age of nineteen, Gatlin received his first doping ban due to the ADHD medication he was then taking. The World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) Code of the time had no provision to exempt Gatlin on the basis of ‘no fault’, leading to a two-year ban for what appears to have been an honest, although arguably negligent, mistake.

Second-time doping offences are more severely disciplined. In 2006, after testing positive, Gatlin received an eight-year ban.

This ban was decreased to a four-year ban, in response to “exceptional circumstances” surrounding his first positive drug test. Gatlin strongly contested his innocence throughout, claiming that the drugs were administered to him in an act of sabotage by his massage therapist.

In 2010, Gatlin made his return to athletics. Since then his remarkable performances have caused controversy in the circuit.

Some have suggested that the drugs initially identified in Gatlin’s system are still assisting him. Recent research by Kristian Gundersen of the University of Oslo has established that muscles can retain the advantages obtained by anabolic steroids for decades after the steroids were taken. This revelation shows that the disciplinary system is potentially out of sync with current scientific understanding. The stronger the scientific evidence becomes on the lasting impacts of doping, the stronger the support grows for lifelong drug bans in athletics.

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Many believe life-long drug bans are the only way of mending the sport’s wounded reputation. As it stands, only a second doping offence can warrant a life-long ban. The growing scientific evidence, discussed above, poses potential challenges to this status quo. It may be argued, however, that a life-long ban is too harsh. To err is part of human nature, and the idea that poor decisions made in naivety, youth or perhaps even by honest mistake can result in a life-long ban from sport could seem a little extreme.

Although the merits of a lifelong ban are still under debate, Germany is one of the few countries that has taken a firm stance on the issue. A law set to be implemented at the beginning of 2015 aims to criminalise doping. Professional athletes are the legislation’s primary focus but doctors and advisors are also targeted. Those convicted face of up to three years’ imprisonment. Clemens Prokop, the President of Germany’s Athletics Council, has described the development as a ‘huge step in the effective battle against doping’.

Germany is one of the first out of the blocks. Future developments in the realm of science will provide further clarification in relation to the lasting impact of doping. With this greater clarity, appropriate sanctions can be more easily agreed and implemented elsewhere. In the mean-time, Gatlin and other marred athletes will continue to be subjects of controversy.

Should they be admired for their laudable comebacks, or condemned for their questionable pasts? That question has yet to be resolved.

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The stronger the scientific evidence becomes on the lasting impacts of doping, the stronger the support grows for lifelong drug bans in athletics

Employment Law’s Slam Dunk?!

The NBA Lockouts Alan Eustace is a Junior Freshman studying Law and French

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here is a public perception that professional sports stars are grossly overpaid and pampered, their every need catered to by teams desperate to attract the top talent.

While this is not necessarily unfounded, there have certainly been some bumps on the road, particularly in the National Basketball Association (NBA) in America.

The NBA has long operated a collective bargaining system with its players, but as some players are clearly more highprofile and marketable than others, this has led to tensions as agents try to secure better deals for their clients. This phenomenon has culminated in a series of ‘lockouts’ with team owners refusing to allow players into team facilities for training and scheduled games.

Law Suits Ensue In March 1998, the New York Times reported that owners wanted to introduce a salary cap whereby no player could earn more than 30% of the total team wage bill. The owners’ proposal would have limited even the top players in the league like Michael Jordan to an average of $10 million a year. The National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) refused to sign any agreement with a fixed salary cap like this, and so the owners instituted a lockout, the third in the NBA’s history.

This lockout lasted from July 1998 to January 1999, delaying the start of the season by two months and resulting in the cancellation of over 400 games. The NBPA grew sharply divided over this issue because lesser players blamed the league stars for being too greedy. Faced with an unravelling union, NBPA executive director Billy Hunter struck a deal with NBA Commissioner David Stern which saw salaries capped between $9 and $14 million dollars, depending on length of career to date – the NBA became the first professional sports league in the world to cap player salaries.

Recession-proof?

The most recent lockout occurred in 2011, in wake of the financial crisis. Owners sought to reopen the six-year collective bargaining agreement reached in 2005 to reflect the fall in franchise revenue. Chiefly, their demands were a “hard” salary cap and cutting player wages to 50% of franchise revenue (from the previously-agreed 57%).

Despite the league facing annual losses of $400 million, the NBPA refused to accept a hard salary cap. The players’ The NBA became union filed for an injunction the first against the league instituting professional another lockout in May 2011, but this was unsuccessful and sports league in the lockout began on July 1st.

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the world to cap

On December 8th, 2011, a 10player salaries year collective bargaining agreement was reached which included a 50% wage bill with soft caps for individual players and higher rates of the progressive ‘luxury tax’ system for highearning players. The current state of affairs sees Los Angeles Lakers veteran Kobe Bryant as the highest-paid player in the league, earning $23 million per annum.

An Example for All The colourful history of NBA lockouts shows that employment law structures and practices are applicable even at the stellar levels of professional sport. The conduct of such celebrities, and their willingness to engage with established legal structures, can set an example to those involved in this area of the law. It also lends a strong public image dimension to an area of the law which may not always be so headline-grabbing.

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Erasmus Catch-up Kate O’Malley is a Junior Sophister student in Law, currently studying in Helsinki as part of the Erasmus programme. She reports back to us on her experience so far.

keeps people working on a constant basis and eliminates the fear of end-of-year exams.

Socially, being part of a group of international students has been extremely interesting. National pride definitely increases across all spectrums, from the obvious sporting level, (Ireland drawing with Germany in the Euro qualifiers was a great day) to listening to some traditional Irish music as you cook dinner with your flatmates.

The most common response when I told people I was spending my Erasmus in Helsinki, after ‘why Sweden?’ (Helsinki is in Finland!), was ‘why?’. It is definitely a question I’ve spent much time reflecting on, and I can only answer it properly now that I’ve spent several weeks here. While it’s impossible to portray just how great Erasmus is in this article, I will share some of what I have found to be different here from life at Trinity.

Firstly, the style of learning is different. There’s a greater emphasis on class participation; we present essays, or cases, and are evaluated on how we critique our classmates’ work. There’s more focus on groupwork. Challenging as group presentations can be at home, it’s even more difficult when English is not the first language of the majority of the team. Having work due or exams throughout the whole semester has been different in terms of time-management, but it works well; it

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Finnish life has treated us well. They have a strong sauna culture here, and in each student accommodation we’re lucky enough to have our own sauna. Talin is only a two-hour ferry ride away, St.Petersburg three hours by train. We’ve attempted to see the Northern Lights from a beach in the suburbs to no avail, so we’re now holding out until our visit to Lapland. The first day of proper snow was exciting for everyone, but it was amazing watching the people who were experiencing snow for the first time. The Christmas lights have been put up in the city-centre, and an ice-skating rink is currently being erected, so we’re well equipped to deal with what the Finnish call ‘Winter-Sad’ as we stop seeing the sun for a few weeks!

As well as making new friends for life from all over the world, Erasmus has given me the opportunity to break into an international professional network, giving me contacts all over the world. It’s crucial that we all harness and benefit from the collective power and potential of the globalised world we live in.

Erasmus has had such an impact on me so far, and I’ve only touched on some of the reasons above. The experiences and opportunities I’ve had, and am yet to have, will make this year one of the most exciting of my life.

WANTED: PROBLEM SOLVERS

BCG, one of the world's leading advisers on management and business strategy, is looking to recruit exceptional individuals from a broad range of backgrounds. Visit our website to learn more.TCD.BCG.COM

Rachel Eccleston, BCG Rachel Eccleston is a partner at BCG who switched to consultancy following practicing Law for a number of years. She speaks to Clare Kelly and Ciara Cosgrave about her experiences.

What motivated you to choose law as your undergraduate degree? It was probably watching too many episodes of Ali McBeal! Really though, I don’t have an overriding reason. I was ambitious and motivated, and I wanted to go into a good profession and law seemed as good a one as any.

What made you turn to consulting? After spending about 10 years working for a couple of large law firms in London I moved to India where I spent 5 years doing freelance consulting. Here, I was working very closely with companies’ business development teams. I found the decisions the businesses were making as to whether to acquire a company or pursue a joint venture and who to do it with a lot more interesting than the legal work. I was talking to a friend of mine who was a partner in the New York office of BCG and he said, “you like project-based work with variety and an intellectual challenge, why don’t you think about consulting”.

As I heard more about it I thought “this sounds really interesting”.

Has consulting lived up to your expectations? Definitely. We work extremely quickly with tight deadlines so it’s not a 9-5 job, but it’s incredibly stimulating. We’re helping global companies figure out their most challenging business problems. It gives you a great opportunity to see different businesses’ issues and different areas of the business. In terms of the intellectual stimulation it’s definitely lived up to my expectations if not surpassed them. Consultancy gives the fantastic opportunity of getting really close to various businesses.

Do you find that the skills you earned in both legal education and practice have helped in your work in consulting? No is the honest answer! The experience of working with clients was helpful but in terms of the actual legal training, consulting is almost the opposite. As a lawyer if you are writing an essay or drafting a legal document you want to get all your facts in front of you and be comfortable that you know everything first. Then you put pen to paper. As a consultant you sort of flip that on its head. What we do is to very quickly come to a hypothesis as to how we can solve the client’s challenge, so we get to the answers much more quickly. The rest of the work then consists of validating that answer. It’s a very different approach.

Is the work atmosphere in a consulting firm different to that in a law firm? That is dependent on where you work, but in my experience, in a law firm it was very much about working long hours and being seen to be in the office. My experience at BCG has been the opposite to that. We work long hours and it’s very intense, but as long as you get the work done and it’s to the right standard, you don’t need to be seen to be at the office until 10 o’clock every night! I’ve got a daughter so I try to leave at about 6.30pm, get home, spend a bit of time with her, put her to bed and then pick up again after I’ve had my dinner. Where I worked as a lawyer, that would have been very difficult to do.

The partners at BCG, from what I’ve seen, truly work as a team.

Everyone is watching each others’ backs and really are working for the greater good, providing a brilliant service and solution to the client. They all pull together to do that.

In terms of professional development, when you join BCG, there’s a lot of training and it’s taken very seriously. You really feel like everyone wants you to succeed. A lot of time and effort is invested in the interview process and in making chosen applicants as good as they can be.

What advice would you give to Law students considering their careers?

If you are really passionate about an area of law, go for it. But if you’re not sure about what you want to do, I think consulting gives a much broader skill set and leaves your options more open. If you practice as a lawyer for a couple of years you get labelled as a lawyer and people see you as a sort of technical professional. Even though some of your skills are useful in a business context, I think the longer you do it the more difficult it becomes to break out of that mould of being seen as a lawyer.

In consulting, on the other hand, people go off to do nearly every role you can think of in business. There is a broader scope of opportunities available. In my experience, if you’re not sure I would say go for consulting over law.

At BCG you’re in control of how you want your career to grow.

For example, lots of people have joined as an associate from university but might have gone on to do an MBA while at BCG, or may have gone on a secondment for 6 months or 1 year.

There are lots of different opportunities open to you. We’re a global company so there are opportunities to see the world through transfer for limited periods to other offices. You can influence what path you take.

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Liz O’Donnell by Juliette Mills

(Credit to Carol Dunne for photograph)

Why did you pick Trinity College to study Law? The main reason I chose Trinity was because of its liberal ethos and respect for diversity. A large number of my contempories were from Northern Ireland of both denominations which was a beneficial experience of cultural and religious diversity. Sadly, there has been a falling off in number of Northerners coming to Trinity in the last decade and I welcome the Provost's recent initiative to increase the number of applicants from Northern Ireland in the next year. It is important to maintain the inclusive nature of the Trinity College educational experience.

Liz O’Donnell is a former Law student (Class of 1981) who went on to becomeone of Ireland’s leading politicians. She was elected to the Dáil in 1992 and was TD for Dublin South until 2007. From 1997 to 2002 she was Minister of State at the Department of Foreign Affairs. In 1998, she was one of the government negotiators in the multi party talks leading to the Good Friday Agreement. She was responsible for Ireland's overseas developments programme and oversaw a massive budget expansion, helping to reach the United Nations target of 0. 7pc of GNP. She was deputy leader of the Progressive Democrats from 2006 to 2007, and now works as a columnist with The Irish Independent as well as a public affairs consultant. She speaks to Juliette Mills What was your first job?

My first job was before I went to college. I left school at the age of 17 and I really didn’t know what I wanted to study, so I did a secretarial course and went to London. I was dying to go off and work there. My first proper job was with AIB in London, much to the disapproval of my parents who wanted me to go to college immediately. I was 21 before I went to college so I had a few years of living independently from my parents, earning my own money and spending all of it on clothes!

Eventually I saw the light and I came back, applied to Trinity and got in!

Why did you choose Law as your undergraduate degree?

I was originally accepted into pure English in Trinity and then offered Law. So I was in a complete quandary because I felt coming to college at an older age and doing English was going to be very self-indulgent. I had no hope of getting a job afterwards unless I became a brilliant poet or writer. So I went to speak to one of my former teachers in Limerick, Antonia O’Callaghan (deceased), who was a barrister. She told me to do Law because it would give me more scope, and perhaps she knew my strenghths better than I did myself. Although English would have been very enjoyable for me, Law really would better prepare me for the workforce.

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Who was the most influencial person you met while studying Law at Trinity?

Kader Asmal was my tutor. At the time he was head of the antiapartheid movement in Ireland. He taught me international Law and human rights. When I would go to see him for extensions on essays, which I was always looking for, he would be so busy dealing with people looking for political asylum, that I always managed to get one! Years later, I was to meet him when I went to visit post-apartheid South Africa. He was the Minister for Water under Nelson Mandela. It was amazing for us to be Ministers together after all those years. Looking back, he probably inspired me the most because I suddenly made the connection between Law, politics and advocacy. Before that I saw Law really as an academic exercise.

What inspired you to enter politics?

I wasn’t at all politicised in college as I was too busy working trying to make ends meet. I didn’t really become politicised till I had my first child. I had left the workforce when I became involved in an environmental women’s group where I met Mary Harney. In 1990 there was a conference in Trinity being run for the Council for the Status of Women called ‘Women and the environment: what can we do?’, which I was happy to organise as part of the committee. Mary Harney was the Minister for Environmental Protection at the time and Junior Minister for the Department of Environment. She had taken on the coal lobby and taken on an order to ban the sale of smokey coal and was therefore our keynote speaker. At the time, it was a big political issue to eliminate smog from Dublin. Mary was a young minister and quite high profiled, and I had never met a practising politician prior to this. The committee, which was a small number of us, brought the Minister for dinner in the Trocadero, and she immediately put her evil eye on me! She went straight from TCD into politics so she couldn’t understand why I wasn’t

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Years later, I was to meet him [Kader Asmal] when I went to visit postapartheid South Africa. He was the Minister for Water under Nelson Mandela. It was amazing for us to be Ministers together after all those years.

in a political party. I wasn’t really sure I wanted to get involved in politics, I just wanted to help out at the conference!

reduction of drink driving. Another goal we have is to reduce the number of serious injuries by 30%.

Congratulations on your new appointment as Chairperson of the Road Safety Authority, what do you hope to achieve?

Thank you very much. There’s a 2013 Road Safety strategy which is in place until 2020. So there is a very clear list of items that we’re going to work through. It’s mainly about targets however, particularly reducing road fatalities. At the moment the U.K., Sweden, Australia and the Netherlands are ahead of us in terms of road safety. Although we’re up 7 fatalities since last year, when there was 190 deaths on the road, that’s not to say that there haven’t been great improvements. In the last decade the number of deaths on the road has been reduced due to better compliance with wearing seat belts and a

Looking back would you have done anything differently?

I probably wouldn’t have gotten married so young because that put me off my career trajectory, but that’s an emotional thing and those kinds of decisions aren’t wholly rational, at the same time it’s lovely now to be a younger parent of young adults.

I do regret not doing one of the professional courses because now I could be practicing at the bar even though my political career is over. Politics is so volatile and unpredictable that it is handy to have a profession to which you can go back.

James Lochrin Did you choose a degree in Law thinking that you might follow law as a career path afterwards?

Going into my degree, I wasn’t set on becoming a solicitor or a barrister and was open to anything. I based my choice on the fact that I thought that a general degree such as law might suit me. I was attracted by the reputation of the Law School and the calibre of the students. I was eager to learn from and with them.

month training programme at Barclays acted as a crash course in finance and accounting and allowed me to learn the core skills. From there on, it was all about learning on the job.

Research and critical thought, skills that I had picked up during my time at the Law School, proved very important to me.

By the time that you secured your internship at Barclays, had you actively choose to follow a business path or was it something that just happened?

The summer during which I interned at Barclays, I also interned at Arthur Cox. Even at that stage, I was still figuring out which path I wanted to follow. My time interning at Barclays gave me great exposure to the financial world, and my experience there set my mind on the course I wanted to follow.

Having experienced the working environment in major legal and financial firms, what would he see as the main differences in the work ethos?

At Barclays, I found that we worked very closely with lawyers.

Bankers and their clients will come up with the idea of what they want to achieve, but very quickly lawyers are involved to create structure around the idea. The two are very much partners in terms of the advice that is given to clients. While both lawyers and bankers both act essentially as advisers, I found that I preferred the commercial side to the legal. That said, it’s a joint effort of lawyers and bankers that delivers ultimately for the client.

Were you apprehensive about undertaking a job in the business world that your college degree hadn’t prepared you for?

I was initially apprehensive about joining colleagues who had degrees and even masters in finance. In reality however the backgrounds are very diverse and I found there was a 50-50 split in terms of business/non-business backgrounds. The two-

Former Auditor of LawSoc, James Lochrin graduated from Trinity in 2012. After two years working in Barclays Investment Bank in London, James has returned to Dublin as an associate with Island Capital. He talks to Nicola Cavey and Ciara Cosgrave about his professional experiences.

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What would be your advice for approaching the application process for companies such as Barclays?

It’s a long process, so give yourself time. Crucially, UK firms typically launch their recruitment processes in September and say that the application deadline is in December. Get your application in as early as possible – the firms assign places on a rolling basis. It’s much harder to get the only remaining place in December, than to be chosen by a recruiter who has 50 spaces to fill in September.

and discover what you like doing. Work in Barclays was hugely demanding from a personal lifestyle perspective, but there is certainly a trade off in terms of the great experience you get, the responsibilities you’re given and the skills you learn. Living in London was also fantastic! My advice to graduating students considering working in the City would be to speak to people who are there now and learn from their experiences. As a starting point there is a strong cohort of TCD graduates at all stages of their careers in the City who are willing to help.

Did you find the move to London beneficial – would you recommend a change of scene to graduating students who want to maximise their professional capital?

Coming out of university there are so many opportunities open to us, so it’s hard to say which one will maximise your professional capital. Your career is a very long game, and at this stage it’s best to maximise your experiences

What advice would you give to graduating law students who are still unsure of what path they want to take?

From my ivory tower, if you have something apart from the typical law path in mind, explore different options and talk to as many relevant people as possible. In my experience, people are willing to be helpful and give you guidance. There’s no need to be nervous about talking to people in the industry.

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Your career is a very long game, and at this stage it’s best to maximise your experiences and discover what you like doing.

Beyond the Lecture TheatreLaw Community Round Up

2014 Law Graduates (left to right) ; Paddy Higgins, Richie Halpin, Jack Danahar, George O’Malley, Jack Cantillon,Rachel Fitzsimons, Clara Duggan, Saoirse O’Reilly, Gráinne Hawkes, Rachel Pereira and Martha Davis.

Lavish reception in the GMB following Trinity College Law Review’s annual Authors’ Night

Trinity College Law Review’s Distinguished Speaker Series: The Future of Ireland's Corporate Tax Regime (left to right);Michael Ryan (Chair of Tax at McCann Fitzgerald),Olivia Waldron (Director of Tax at Deloitte),Fintan Clancy(Chair of Tax at Arthur Cox) and Mark Redmond (Chief Executive of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ireland).

Student’s trying their hand at the roulette table during the Law Society’s Swing Ball at the Shelbourne hotel.

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The Shelbourne Hotel in full swing.

Law Society’s 1920s themed Swing Ball a roaring success! (left to right) ; Deirdre Moore, Catherine Kilkenny, Kristen Nelson de Burca, Caoimhe Strafford, Conor Casey, Graham Reynolds and Conor Ringland

Law Society’s Born Again Maidens Finalists and Winner Caoimhe Stafford, with Debate Chairperson Mr Justice Colm Mac Eochaidh, Law Soc Auditor James Ringland and Debates Convenor Hilary Hogan.

The impressive setting for Law Society’s Masquerave

The ELSA stand during Fresher’s Week 2014.

Law School Lecturers modelling the hoodies presented to the Class of 2014. (back row, left to right) ; David Prendergast and Oran Doyle (front row, left to right) ; David Fennelly, Giuseppe Mazziotti, Neville Cox, Ivana Bacik, Rachael Walsh and David Kenny

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The first rule of success Surround yourself with the best The success of Matheson has been built on the implementation of a clear client-focused strategy and a commitment to excellence. Above all, however, we achieve results through our investment in talented people. We aim to recruit individuals who will play an important role in the future success of the firm.

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