Constitutional Law

The Supreme Court has ruled that the existing procedure to revoke Irish citizenship from people who acquire Irish nationality is unconstitutional. Ms Justice Elizabeth Dunne, handing down her ruling in Ali Charaf Damache v the Minister for Justice and Equality today, said there were insufficient saf

The High Court has ruled that the Seanad can only meet after all 60 members have been elected or nominated. The Seanad is comprised of 49 elected members and eleven members have been nominated by a new Taoiseach. The new president of the High Court, Ms Justice Mary Irvine, sat with Ms Justice Niamh

The High Court will be asked to rule on whether the Seanad can sit and pass legislation without the appointment of 11 nominees of the new Taoiseach. Competing legal opinions have been put forward as to the constitutionality of the Seanad sitting without all 60 members as protracted government format

Ireland's constitutional requirement for the president and Council of State members to make a declaration "in the presence of almighty God" is being challenged before the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR). A group including two TDs and a Senator have submitted to the court that Article 12.8 and

The High Court has dismissed an action challenging the constitutionality of the procedures of the Workplace Relations Commission. Background

Dr Seán Ó Conaill carries out a textual analysis of the Constitution to examine whether the Oireachtas can sit remotely. Reports emerged today that advice has been issued to TDs and Senators which suggests that the Houses of the Oireachtas cannot sit remotely because the text of the Co

The Oireachtas has received legal advice indicating that it cannot convene meetings via video-link, according to reports. The advice centres on the wording of Article 15.1.3, which provides that the "Houses of the Oireachtas shall sit in or near the City of Dublin or in such other place as they may

Professor Oran Doyle and Dr Tom Hickey interrogate whether the Oireachtas can legislate without the appointment of a new Taoiseach. In an email sent to a member of Dáil Éireann over the past few days, the recently re-elected Ceann Comhairle, Seán Ó Fearghaíl, made

The controversial reference to women’s “life within the home” in the Irish constitution should be scrapped, the Citizens' Assembly has said. The body, made up of chairperson Dr Catherine Day and 99 citizens randomly selected to be broadly representative of the Irish electorate, met

The UK Supreme Court has refused to accept an application from the Attorney General for Northern Ireland to refer what he said was a “devolution issue” under the Northern Ireland Act 1998. The Attorney General submitted that, by providing postcode lists to the Secretary of State, Norther

The controversial reference to women's "life within the home" in the Irish constitution will be explored at an event hosted by the Irish Women Lawyers' Association (IWLA) next month. The Government has committed to holding a future referendum on Article 41.2 of the Constitution.

Civil society organisations have called on TDs and Senators to urgently clarify the rules around the "money message" mechanism amid fears it is allowing the Government to effectively veto legislative proposals. Representatives of 25 organisations, including the Irish Congress of Trade Unions (ICTU),

Draft legislation to hold a referendum on allowing Irish citizens abroad and in Northern Ireland to vote in presidential elections has been submitted to the Dáil. The Thirty-ninth Amendment of the Constitution (Presidential Elections) Bill 2019 provides for a referendum to amend article 12 of

The role of the Attorney General should be clarified in light of research showing that at least a dozen housing bills were blocked due to an "extremely restrictive" interpretation of the Constitution, a senator has said. Independent Senator Colette Kelleher today published research by the Oireachtas

Human rights expert Professor Colin Harvey has called for a national conversation on Irish unity as a "way back to the EU". Professor Harvey, professor of human rights law at Queen's University Belfast, said it would be "irresponsible not to talk about this".