Scoil Dlí Sutherland UCD UCD Sutherland School of Law
CELEBRATING
YEARS
OF U C D SUTHERLAND SC HOOL OF LAW
The School of Law in UCD has occupied a position of unique importance within Irish legal education since its foundation in 1911.
CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF
UCD SUTHERLAND SCHOOL OF LAW
UCD SUTHERLAND SCHOOL OF LAW THE FIRST DECADE The School of Law in UCD has occupied a position of unique importance within Irish legal education since its foundation in 1911. In November 2013, the School was privileged to move into this outstanding, dedicated law school on the Belfield campus. This would not have been possible were it not for the major leadership gift of Peter Sutherland, the significant government investment provided under the C E L E B R AT I N G 1 0 Y E A R S O F S U T H E R L A N D S C H O O L O F L A W
National Development Plan (2007–2013), and gifts from other leading benefactors, major law firms and private donors. Named in Peter Sutherland’s honour, the Sutherland School of Law has since brought together all the teaching, research and professional development activity of the Law School into a single building. As a Law School, we have always been committed to achieving excellence in both teaching and research and to providing a diverse, vibrant and friendly environment for our student body. Moving to UCD Sutherland School of Law paved the way for us to make great inroads in achieving these objectives. It also allowed us to take our place with the leading law schools of the world. The following pages outline the highlights of the ten years since we moved to this building, many of which would not have been possible without the excellent facilities available to us
Professor Laurent Pech, Dean of UCD Sutherland School of Law.
at UCD Sutherland School of Law. Tá an Ghaeilge faoi bhláth bríomhar i saol na Scoile ó bhogamar isteach san fhoirgneamh
initial phases of the development of the building project and those who continue to
nua deich mbliana ó shin. Chomh maith leis
show considerable generosity. I would also like to personally acknowledge the
an mbunchéim BCL Dlí le Gaeilge, atá
positive contribution of the academic and professional staff whose hard work and
fadbhunaithe anois, bíonn deis ag na mic
dedication have been equally important in adding to the successes of the School to
léinn páirt a ghlacadh i Scéim Theach na
date. I could not fail to also mention the enthusiasm and positivity of the many
Gaeilge UCD, a chuireann i dteagmháil
students who have studied here over the past ten years and have had the opportunity
laethanta le Gaeilgeoirí eile sa Choláiste iad.
to benefit from this outstanding facility.
Glacaimid freisin le hobair acadúil i nGaeilge
| THE FIRST DECADE
We are grateful to the many supporters of the School, those who contributed to the
lena measúnú, is cuma cén céim dlí atá á We look forward to many more years in UCD Sutherland School of Law.
déanamh ag an údar. Féach, mar fhianaise mhaith go bhfuil an teanga faoi bhláth linn, an rath a bhí ar ár mic léinn i mBréagchúirt Uí Dhálaigh Ghael Linn; bhuadar an comórtas náisiúnta sin faoi thrí idir 2011 & 2014
Professor Laurent Pech
agus bhíodar sa dara háit i 2012, 2015,
Dean of UCD Sutherland School of Law
2018 & 2021.
April 2024
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CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF
UCD SUTHERLAND SCHOOL OF LAW
TEACHING The teaching spaces in the Sutherland building have been transformative. Innovative design allows students to engage in interactive group work and
C E L E B R AT I N G 1 0 Y E A R S O F S U T H E R L A N D S C H O O L O F L A W
| TEACHING
to make full use of technology in their learning.
Our students participate in mooting (mock court and arbitration)
(paid) internships for students, and the adoption of a variety of
competitions including the Intervarsity Law Summit, the National
skills-based modules to support students in progressing to a
and Viz and Jessup moots. The Arthur Cox Clinical Legal Education
professional environment. There has been a remarkable
Centre also hosts primary school children from DEIS schools,
diversification in our student body with record numbers of
learning through play by acting as lawyers and judges in mock trials.
undergraduate law students admitted through more than seven
This initiative is led by our undergraduate students on the Law in the
entry routes. Through the UCD scholarship programmes in part
Classroom module, which seeks to demystify law and the legal
supported by our many alumni and donors, we have also been able
profession, and to encourage wider participation in legal education.
to reduce the financial barriers to legal education with hundreds of
The past decade has also seen the introduction of semester-long
scholarships and bursaries awarded on a needs basis.
‘Participating in the Internship module in 3rd year was an invaluable experience that allowed me to apply the skills I had learned during my degree in a practical way.’ Laura Campion, BCL (Stage 4)
The Sutherland School of Law National Moot Court Competition winning team 2022, (L to R) Méabh de Courcy MacDonnell, Robert O’Sullivan, Ms Justice Carmel Stewart, Mr Justice John McMenamin, Tom Casey and Hugh Joyce. The School also celebrated winning teams in 2018 and 2019.
‘A highlight throughout my studies was taking part in Moot Court Competitions. The support and encouragement from the faculty members, coupled with the excellent facilities in the Sutherland building, truly enhanced the experience.’ Robert O’Sullivan, BCL graduate 2023
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The BCL Class of 2014.
CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF
UCD SUTHERLAND SCHOOL OF LAW
‘The Law in the Classroom module was an honour to be part of; a unique, rewarding and impactful experience. It gives life to the transformative power of education.’ Carla Wallace, Class of 2022 and Denham Scholar
The Sutherland School has also been able to C E L E B R AT I N G 1 0 Y E A R S O F S U T H E R L A N D S C H O O L O F L A W
develop some new interdisciplinary programmes, at both the undergraduate and graduate level. Following the recognition of Irish as an official EU language, the School introduced a new BCL (Law with Irish) degree in 2017. More recently, we have welcomed the first cohort of first years in the BSc in Criminology with Psychology. A new online MSc in Environmental Law allows graduate students from across the globe to develop expertise on climate and biodiversity governance. In the MSc in International Law and Business, students
The Class of 2023.
combine graduate law modules with classes at the Smurfit Business School. The School also offers a number of professional diplomas including those in Data Protection, Arbitration and Mediation.
| TEACHING
Saoirse Conroy, BCL Stage 4, taking part in the Law in the Classroom Module.
The BBL Class of 2014.
‘Louvain-la-Neuve provided the perfect environment to make new friends, gain a different perspective on my studies and improve my French, all while immersing myself in a foreign culture.’ Kate McCarthy, BBL graduate 2018
Kate McCarthy and friends on Erasmus to Louvain-la-Neuve, Brussels.
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CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF
UCD SUTHERLAND SCHOOL OF LAW
RESEARCH Scholarship is at the heart of the Sutherland School’s activities, from our undergraduate and Masters dissertation modules to prize-winning monographs, the student-led UCD Law Review and The Irish Jurist,
C E L E B R AT I N G 1 0 Y E A R S O F S U T H E R L A N D S C H O O L O F L A W
| RESEARCH
long associated with the School. Since the opening of the Sutherland building,
faculty ambition and success in securing prestigious research awards. Faculty have
nearly 90 books have been published by faculty
secured over €10 million in funding from Irish, French and European research bodies.
here. Sole-authored, co-authored, sole and co-
Most significantly, the School has hosted five European Research Council grants in the
edited books have addressed an extraordinary
last decade, on effective nature laws (Suzanne Kingston); the authority of public
range of legal topics. This is in addition to
institutions (Eoin Carolan); property rights in international law (Amy Strecker); a new
almost 1000 scholarly articles in journals and
socio-legal theory for European integration (Dagmar Schiek); and gender, conflict and
book chapters published by leading academic
coercive control (Aisling Swaine) involving more than 25 researchers and PhD
presses, contributing to the analysis of legal
candidates. A number of UCD research centres and groups further support research on
questions in Ireland and beyond.
law, bringing together scholars in Sutherland and other UCD Schools. The first post-
A major innovation in the building was the
doctoral Newman Fellows and Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellows have been appointed.
inclusion of research team offices anticipating
In addition the Sutherland Fellows visiting scholars scheme has attracted 63 scholars from all over the world, bringing their expertise and insights to our ongoing research and contributing to our seminar series. Forty six of our internationally diverse PhD community graduated in the last decade, writing on a wide range of subjects from Arbitration to Sustainable food systems. A large number have held scholarships from the Irish Research Council, the EU and the governments of China and Saudi Arabia. The Matheson PhD suite provides the students with world-class facilities with their own common room, shared kitchen facilities and guaranteed desk space.
Ian O’Donnell’s book, Prison Life: Pain, Resistance, and Purpose (NYU Press) was the 2023 winner of the Outstanding Book Award, the top literature prize given by the American Society of Criminology’s Division of International Criminology.
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Niamh Howlin (left) and Richard Collins (right) at the PhD Conferrings of Alexandru Soptica, Michael McNamara, Orla Kelleher and Aphrodite Papachristodoulou in 2022.
CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF
UCD SUTHERLAND SCHOOL OF LAW
STAFF Today there are over 40 faculty and 14 professional staff in the school as well as several early career researchers and an exceptional group of visiting and adjunct professors, including the current and former Attorneys General, leading King’s Counsel and Senior Counsel, award-winning journalists, and scholars from across the globe. appointed the Emile Noel Global Fellow at New York University
through small group teaching for key law subjects, it acknowledges
conducting research on law and hope, while Mark Coen was a Visiting
the contribution of its many tutors including recent alumni and our
Fellow at the University of Oxford exploring the history of trial by
PhD students. As well as welcoming new staff, we have also said
jury, and Joe McGrath was a Fulbright Scholar at UC Berkeley,
goodbye to others, who have moved on to take up positions in
researching privilege and white-collar crime.
C E L E B R AT I N G 1 0 Y E A R S O F S U T H E R L A N D S C H O O L O F L A W
And, as the School maintains its tradition of student-centred learning
universities in Ireland, Germany and the UK and senior administrative posts elsewhere in the university. Paul O’Connor, Tony Kerr, Maureen Reynolds and Caroline Fine have retired, leaving behind an extraordinary legacy of collegiality and professionalism. We mark the passing of several former colleagues who are hugely respected and sorely missed: Aonghus Cheevers, Andrew Lyall, Nial Osborough. And we continue to miss our colleague, Paul Anthony McDermott. Ar dhéis Dé go raibh a n-anamacha dílse. We are immensely proud of our faculty’s many public service contributions. Suzanne Kingston was appointed as a judge of the General Court of the European Union in 2022. Oonagh Breen was asked
Roebuck Castle where the School of Law was based from 1991 to 2013.
to chair the Independent Review of Charity Regulation in Northern Ireland in 2021, culminating in 93 recommendations for reform. During Housing Bodies Regulatory Authority established by the Minister for Housing. In recognition of her work promoting legal education and
| S TA F F
the same year, she was also appointed to the Board of the Approved Suzanne Kingston, Judge of the General Court of the European Union.
research relating to France and Ireland, Marie-Luce Paris was awarded the Chevalier of the Ordre des Palmes Académiques in 2016. Both at home and abroad, colleagues are often invited to give evidence to parliamentary committees, including (for example), Liam Thornton at the Oireachtas Committee on Justice and Equality in 2019 (on the system of direct provision) and Gavin Barrett at the House of Lords Select Committee on EU Affairs in 2013, 2014 and 2018 (on justice and home affairs and Brexit-related issues). Travel and external collaboration are vital to our research mission, and in this context many colleagues have been awarded fellowships to other leading institutions. In 2022, for example, Imelda Maher was
President Michael D Higgins with Mark Coen (UCD Sutherland School of Law), Katherine O'Donnell (UCD) and Maeve O'Rourke (University of Galway and UCD Law Alumni Awardee 2014) when they presented him with a copy of A Dublin Magdalene Laundry: Donnybrook and Church-State Power in Ireland.
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CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF
UCD SUTHERLAND SCHOOL OF LAW
ALUMNI
Hockey Olympian Deirdre Duke, Law with Social Justice graduate 2017, with school staff (l -r) John O’Dowd, Imelda Maher and Paul Ward.
The School takes pride in its many alumni who are scattered across
C E L E B R AT I N G 1 0 Y E A R S O F S U T H E R L A N D S C H O O L O F L A W
| ALUMNI
the globe. We seek to recognise their achievements through the university Alumni of the Year Awards, the award of Honorary PhDs and UCD’s Justice Albie Sachs, Susan Haack, Samantha Power and Cass Sunstein. Law alumni who have received honorary PhDs include Noeline Blackwell, Gráinne de Búrca, Conor Gearty, Brian Havel,
Our distinguished alumni include the current Chief Justice, Mr Justice
Mr Justice Gerard Hogan, and Mary Lawlor. UCD has also given
Donal O’Donnell and President of the European Court of Human
Honorary Doctorates of Laws, in recognition of their achievements
Rights, Ms Justice Siofra O’Leary, Rossa Fanning SC, Attorney
in or in connection with law, to Judge Yvonne Murphy, Mrs Justice
General, Paul Gallagher SC, former Attorney General, Michael
Susan Denham, Máirín de Burca, Kevin Duffy, Michael Farrell, John
O’Flaherty, Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights and
Feerick, Marcelo Rebelo de Sousa and Emily Logan.
Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC, human rights lawyer and Ireland's Special Rapporteur on Child Protection. These alumni are role models for more recent graduates. Several younger Sutherland alumni are Olympians: Mitch Darling, David Fitzgerald, Kirk Shimmins, (hockey, Rio); Sarah Healy (athletics, Tokyo); Deirdre Duke, Nikki Evans, Anna O’Flanagan, Gillian Pinder (hockey, 2018 World Cup silver medallists; Deirdre and Anna were also Tokyo 2020 Olympians), while Garry Ringrose and Dan Leavy both represented Ireland in rugby. The School takes pride in their achievements and even more so in the fact they combine their intensive sporting
Students and Alumni at a special Celebration of Twenty Years of French Law Programmes in 2019.
UCD Law Alumnus of the Year winners 2014 2015 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023
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Síofra O’Leary BCL '89 and Michael O'Flaherty BCL '80 meeting on Wednesday 3 April 2024, as President of the European Court of Human Rights and Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights respectively.
highest honour, the Ulysses Medal, which has been awarded to Mr
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Maeve O’Rourke Miriam O’Callaghan Benjamin Cleary Caoilfhionn Gallagher KC Vincent Keaveny CBE Colin Ryan Sally Hayden Fiona McEntee Bill Shipsey SC Aedamar Comiskey
careers with their studies.
CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF
UCD SUTHERLAND SCHOOL OF LAW
SUPPORTING OUR STUDENTS Philanthropy is an intrinsic part of the story of UCD Sutherland School of Law. The School was built on a foundation of public funding and outstanding philanthropic support, with that generosity and vision manifest in the state-of-the-art facilities of The Class of 2022 pictured in their final week in UCD Sutherland School of Law.
the Sutherland Building. A decade since we first opened the doors to Ireland’s first purpose-built law school, philanthropy continues
C E L E B R AT I N G 1 0 Y E A R S O F S U T H E R L A N D S C H O O L O F L A W
to make a significant contribution to the vibrant intellectual environment of Sutherland School in a host of different ways. We are immensely grateful to all the benefactors who have supported us over the past decade in our commitment to providing an exceptional educational experience at undergraduate and postgraduate levels, increasing diversity and inclusion in law, and shaping the future of law through pioneering research and global engagement. Philanthropically funded scholarships, travel bursaries, mentoring and internship opportunities, and experiential learning, help to ensure that every student, regardless of their background or personal
Shane Black.
circumstances, can access the resources they need to thrive and flourish at UCD. Likewise, academic chairs and research
Shane Black (BCL 2023) was one of the first students to be
fellowships enrich our scholarly community and make a
awarded a Cothrom na Féinne scholarship through UCD
meaningful difference for our faculty and postgraduate students.
Sutherland Opportunity supported by Mason Hayes & Curran. For Shane, the support of a scholarship was life-changing, giving
The School’s flagship student support fund – UCD Sutherland
him the motivation and financial stability to achieve his dream
Opportunity supported by Mason Hayes & Curran – has been
of graduating from university:
transformative for our students. Launched in September 2019 in “It is impossible to summarise what a profound impact this
firm Mason Hayes & Curran, and with additional generous
scholarship has had. It has given me all the tools I needed to build
support from alumni and other donors, the fund has provided
a better future, and that is exactly what I did. UCD is built upon
over €1.1 million to a range of initiatives to help students
curious, intelligent, generous, and hardworking people and those
overcome barriers to full participation in higher education. It is a
who come from disadvantaged backgrounds are no less
key component to the School’s efforts to ensure that every
hardworking and curious.
student has the opportunity to fulfil their potential. Additional
I am living proof of the profound impact such support can have
scholarships have been established with philanthropic support in
on a person’s life.”
| SUPPORTING OUR STUDENTS
partnership with UCD Access & Lifelong Learning and the law
partnership with UCD Access & Lifelong Learning such as the AMOSS Scholarship in Law, the Frank Scott Access Scholarship,
Recipients of the Doreen Fitzgerald Caprani Masters Scholarship
the Hayes Solicitors Cothrom na Féinne Scholarship in Law and
in Law, the James Healy Masters in Law Scholarship, and the
the UCD Walkers (Ireland) Cothrom na Féinne Scholarship. These
Walsh Family Scholarship have received financial support for
scholarships have provided key financial supports to students so
graduate studies. In 2024, the School launched the Paul Anthony
they can realise their dream of studying law. Also since 2014,
McDermott Scholarship. The scholarship will enable a UCD law
UCD law alumni have donated €403,173 to UCD Champions -
student progress to King’s Inns, and has been made possible
Opening Doors, which is the university-wide effort to provide
thanks to the support of UCD law alumni and Paul Anthony
life-changing financial support to low income students.
McDermott’s former colleagues at the Law Library.
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CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF
UCD SUTHERLAND SCHOOL OF LAW
C E L E B R AT I N G 1 0 Y E A R S O F S U T H E R L A N D S C H O O L O F L A W
| FUNDING PIONEERING RESEARCH
FUNDING PIONEERING RESEARCH Thanks to the establishment of the FitzPatrick Family Foundation
Competitive markets remain central to the operation of
Research Fund a range of empirical research projects in law and
liberal democracies throughout the world. In 2022 the Ronan
criminology have been conducted, while the McCann Fitzgerald
Harty Newman Fellowship in New Frontiers of
Chair and lectureship in International Business Law strengthened the
Competition Law was established to explore the extent to
School’s research and teaching capacity. The UCD Newman
which competition laws need to be reconceptualised for
Fellowship Programme awarded two prestigious two-year
current and future challenges. These challenges include new
postdoctoral research fellowships, and the School is proud to include
technologies, growing political interest in sustainable growth
them in our research community. The fellowships are funded entirely
and changing geopolitical contexts – all of which require a
by generous philanthropic donations from individuals and firms who
reconsideration of the nature and goals of the institutions,
are committed to pushing the boundaries of knowledge in their
rules and legal tests governing competitive markets. Łukasz
chosen discipline. They provide a unique opportunity for early-career
Grzejdziak (2022) and Nikolaos Pitsos (2024) were the
researchers by giving them the freedom to be bold and ambitious in
respective recipients of the Ronan Harty Newman Fellowship
their work as they tackle some of our greatest societal challenges.
hosted by the Sutherland School of Law. We are delighted to welcome Saoirse Enright to the Law School in 2024 as she takes up her appointment as the Matheson Diversity in Law Newman Fellow. Funded by Matheson law firm, her interdisciplinary research project aims to explore researchbased evidence in the field of access to legal education for under-represented groups, and to identify hurdles experienced by those groups to remain in the legal profession. Saoirse will lead the development of current and new initiatives to improve access to law degrees and the
At the 2020 launch of ‘Judges and Juries in Ireland: An Empirical Study’, funded by the FitzPatrick Family Foundation Research Fund, (L to R) John Lynch, Niamh Howlin, the then Chief Justice, Mr Justice Frank Clarke, Colette Barry and Mark Coen.
profession more broadly.
A FINAL WORD OF THANKS We celebrate the significant achievements of UCD Sutherland School of Law over the past decade with a sense of heartfelt gratitude to the many alumni, philanthropic supporters, corporate sponsors and strategic partners whose generosity and vision have been at the core of our success. With your continued support, we are confident in facing the challenges of the future with integrity and intellectual rigour as we prepare new generations of law graduates to become leaders and global citizens of the 21st century.
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Colin Scott, Ruairi Quinn (then Minister for Education and Skills), Peter Sutherland and Hugh Brady (former President of UCD) at the official launch of the Sutherland School of Law in November 2013.
CELEBRATING 10 YEARS OF
UCD SUTHERLAND SCHOOL OF LAW
KEY MOMENTS IN SUTHERLAND The School continues to develop a culture of belonging which is all the more important following covid, with staff and students rising to the major challenges it posed, from bringing back students on exchange in China and Italy in March 2020 to moving all teaching and assessment online. The buzz in the School is back now with lecture theatres full and the atrium a hive of activity. Significant achievements for the School in the last decade have included recognition of our commitment to gender equality through the Athena SWAN Bronze award (2022-26), the hosting of major conferences and our annual lecture, The John M Kelly Lecture.
Some major conferences in the Building (2014-2023) International Society for Labour and Social Security Law XI European Regional Congress, 17-19 September 2014 Society of Legal Scholars Annual Conference 2017, 5 - 8 September 2017 11th North South Irish Criminology Conference, 6-7 September 2018 The European Research Network on Philanthropy (ERNOP) 10th international conference, 2-3 December 2021 21st International Online Dispute Resolution Forum, 3-5 May 2022 Public Law Conference, 6-8 July 2022
John M Kelly Lectures (2014-23) 2014 Mr Justice Albie Sachs
‘Justice, Memory & Art’
2015 Ms Ann Power Forde SC
‘Diversity in Family Life’
2016 Mr Justice Donal O’Donnell
‘International Aspects of the Constitution’
2017 Prof John Wylie
‘Adverse Possession - Still an Ailing Concept?’
2018 Prof Gerry Whyte
‘On Lord Ellenborough’s Law of Humanity’
2019 Prof Nicola Lacey
‘Populism and the Rule of Law’
2020
None due to covid
2021
None due to covid
2022 Lord Jonathan Sumption
‘The European Union and the Nation-state’
2023 Baroness Onora O’Neill
‘Philosophical views on judgement’
Walsh Lectures, in honour of Mr Justice Brian Walsh, 2016-2019 Mr Justice Nial Fennelly
‘The Judicial Legacy of the Hon Mr Justice Adrian Hardiman’
Ms Justice Mary Finlay Geoghegan
‘Children’s Rights and Views – Challenges Facing the Courts’
Ms Justice Siofra O’Leary
‘Balancing Rights in a Digital Age’
Mr Justice Frank Clarke
‘Words, Words, Words - Text and the Law’
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Scoil Dlí Sutherland UCD UCD Sutherland School of Law
+353 1 716 4110 law.students@ucd.ie www.ucd.ie/law UCDSchoolofLaw UCDLawSchool ucdsutherlandlaw