The symposium will examine how the relevance test operates in Section 3 (sexual experience) and Section 19A (disclosure of third-party records) applications

RCI is particularly keen for legal professionals to attend, alongside policymakers, advocates and relevant NGOs working in this area.

The event will see the launch by Ms Justice Úna Ní Raifeartaigh, Judge at the European Court of Human Rights, of new research by Dr Sinéad Ring, Associate Professor in law and criminology at Maynooth University, which examines how Section 3 applications are assessed in practice, addresses the tension between relevance and credibility in judicial decision-making, and sets out recommendations for reform.

Prof Vanessa Munro, Professor of law at the University of Warwick, will respond to the findings in a keynote address, offering her own analysis of how the relevance test is currently interpreted and the practical challenges it poses for courts and practitioners.

The symposium will be opened by Catherine Ardagh Minister of State at the Department of Justice, Home Affairs and Migration with special responsibility for international law, law reform and youth justice, and the two-hour event will conclude with a panel discussion among legal professionals on the wider implications of these applications, including their impact on survivors.

For barristers, solicitors and legal academics, this is a rare opportunity to engage directly with the judiciary, government and leading researchers on a live and technically complex area of evidentiary law - one with direct implications for practice in sexual offence trials. The discussion will address how relevance is argued and assessed in real proceedings, and what the research recommends for reform of the current framework.

Registration is now open on Eventbrite.