Leonard Francis Taylor | Atlantic Technological University (original) (raw)
Monograph by Leonard Francis Taylor
Catholic Cosmopolitanism and Human Rights, Cambridge University Press (March 5, 2020), 2020
It is because Catholicism played such a formative role in the construction of Western legal cultu... more It is because Catholicism played such a formative role in the construction of Western legal culture that it is the focal point of this enquiry. The account of international law from its origin in the treaties of Westphalia, and located in the writing of the Grotian tradition, had lost contact with another cosmopolitan history of international law that reappeared with the growth of the early 20th century human rights movement. The beginnings of the human rights movement, grounded in democratic sovereign power, returned to that moral vocabulary to promote the further growth of international order in the 20th century. In recognising this technique of periodically returning to Western cosmopolitan legal culture, this book endeavours to provide a more complete account of the human rights project that factors in the contribution that cosmopolitan Catholicism made to a general theory of sovereignty, international law and human rights.
[150 words – 1200 characters ]
Peer Reviewed Articles by Leonard Francis Taylor
Religions, 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catholicism and European Politics) Political Catholi... more (This article belongs to the Special Issue Catholicism and European Politics)
Political Catholicism began in the 20th century by presenting a conception of confessional politics to a secularizing Europe. However, this article reveals the reworking of political Catholicism’s historical commitment to a balance of two powers—an ancient Imperium and Sacerdotium—to justify change to this position. A secular democratic faith became a key insight in political Catholicism in the 20th century, as it wedded human rights to an evolving cosmopolitan Catholicism and underlined the growth of Christian democracy. This article argues that the thesis of Christian democracy held a central post-war motif that there existed a prisca theologia or a philosophia perennis, semblances of a natural law, in secular modernity that could reshape the social compact of the modern project of democracy. However, as the Cold War ended, human rights became more secularized in keeping with trends across Europe. The relationship between political Catholicism and human rights reached a turning point, and this article asks if a cosmopolitan political Catholicism still interprets human rights as central to its embrace of the modern world.
Irish Journal of Sociology, 2020
This research explores service providers’ views on the barriers that prevent women in the sex wor... more This research explores service providers’ views on the barriers that prevent women in the sex work industry in Ireland from accessing co-ordinated health services. A purposive sample of eight service providers in the field of women’s health and social care in the West of Ireland were selected and interviewed for this study. The service providers were asked about their perception of the barriers of sex workers accessing health and social care services. Using thematic analysis, three key themes were identified: (1) lack of knowledge of women’s involvement in sex work; (2) identified barriers to health services; and (3) legislative and policy barriers to providing supportive services. While the service providers acknowledged that they do not knowingly provide services for sex workers, they all recognise that some of their service users are at risk of, and potentially are, involved in sex work. Yet, they were able to identify some of the barriers sex workers face when accessing their services. All these barriers were the result to the services’ limited capacity to support women engaging in sex work. At the time of data collection, the legislative context meant that selling sex under certain conditions was outside the law. This study highlights the consequences that criminalisation can have on the health of sex workers and the need for a paradigm shift in existing health and social care services. In this paper, we propose that a social justice rather than a criminal justice approach has the potential to address sex workers’ right to access appropriate health care. This paper gives due recognition to marginalised women, and advocates for better provision of services for women in the sex industry, while considering the new legislation of 2017.
Erasmus + Study Paper by Leonard Francis Taylor
Pedagogy of robotics in the social professions in Europe (Erasmus + Programme), 2019
This paper addresses the issue of the regulation of AI and social robotics. As novel and emerging... more This paper addresses the issue of the regulation of AI and social robotics. As novel and emerging technologies, these provide challenges to existing models and systems of regulation. The paper outlines the context for development of regulation, including some of the key technological developments and outlines principles for the regulation of novel technologies: including the ethics, human rights and capabilities models. It identifies the key challenges in the regulation of AI and social robotics. It reviews regulatory initiatives in supranational and transnational organisations, national organisations both within and outside the state, and in industry.
Peer reviewed Book Reviews by Leonard Francis Taylor
Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review, 2021
Taylor LF (2021) Massimo Faggioli, Joe Biden and Catholicism in the United States (New London, CT... more Taylor LF (2021) Massimo Faggioli, Joe Biden and Catholicism in the United States (New London, CT: Bayard, 2021), 176 pages. Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review 110(439): 389-395.
Irish Jurist (LXIV, 2020), 2020
Amartya Sen’s The Idea of Justice (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009) provided a taxono... more Amartya Sen’s The Idea of Justice (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009) provided a taxonomy to usefully distinguish between various theories of justice that appeared during the European Enlightenment in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, with two approaches that might be adopted. “Transcendental institutionalism” concentrated on perfect justice, with a focus on institutional arrangements, and is represented by “contractarian” modes of thinking.
Irish Times, 2020
Taylor, L. (2020). Catholic cosmopolitanism and human rights: Secular democracy was to be a frien... more Taylor, L. (2020). Catholic cosmopolitanism and human rights: Secular democracy was to be a friend of the church, and human rights a common vocabulary. Irish Times. [online] Available at: http://bit.ly/2PJfnNY [Accessed 4 Mar. 2020].
"The long and often complex history of human rights reveals entanglements and processes that reach back into a premodern history that engage with how international law is formed, the meaning of sovereignty, the uses of diplomacy and political action, and indeed the place of religion, in restraining or exerting influence on the exercise of political power".
Peer reviewed Conference Paper by Leonard Francis Taylor
Conference: Myron Taylor, Holy See and US Foreign Policy: New Transatlantic Perspectives on Catho... more Conference:
Myron Taylor, Holy See and US Foreign Policy: New Transatlantic Perspectives on Catholicism and European Politics. European University Institute, Fiesole John Cabot University, Rome.
The development of Christian democracy in the 20th century presented a conception of confessional politics to a secularising Europe. A secular democratic faith was a key insight in political Catholicism in the 20th century, that wedded human rights to an evolving cosmopolitan Catholicism and underlined the growth of Christian democracy. One central motif held there exists a prisca theologia or a philosophia perennis, semblances of a natural law, in secular modernity that could reshape the social compact of the modern project of democracy. However, in the later 20th century, human rights became more secularised in keeping with trends across Europe. This chapter addresses the relationship between Christian democracy and human rights, and asks if political Catholicism is in retreat from human rights. Therefore, this chapter addresses the future of political Catholicism as a cosmopolitan project that viewed human rights as central to its embrace of the modern world.
Peer reviewed short papers by Leonard Francis Taylor
Human Rights in Ireland, 2015
The following post highlights current debate at the United Nations, particularly at the recent 28... more The following post highlights current debate at the United Nations, particularly at the recent 28th Session of the Human Rights Council on the situation in Northern Iraq and Syria as a consequence of the spread of ISIS(Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham or sometimes called ISIL, Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant). Religious minorities and ethnic groups are of particular concern and the Holy See has invoked the doctrine of a responsibility to protect. The following post assesses this option in light of the impasse at the Security Council. The proposal to establish an ad-hoc tribunal for Syria and potentially northern Iraq appears to be the next most reasonable step.
Human Rights in Ireland, 2015
The challenge to take a few steps back to facilitate dialogue between feminism and religion is a ... more The challenge to take a few steps back to facilitate dialogue between feminism and religion is a two way street, one to be taken up both by feminists as well as the Catholic church.
Human Rights in Ireland, Oct 22, 2014
From October 5 – 19th an Extraordinary Synod of Catholic bishops called by Pope Francis took plac... more From October 5 – 19th an Extraordinary Synod of Catholic bishops called by Pope Francis took place in Rome to look at issues concerning the family. It will provide the Catholic Church with a preliminary text to prepare and orientate the discussion for a General Synod in October 2015.
Teaching Documents by Leonard Francis Taylor
![Research paper thumbnail of Corporate Social Responsibility [NFQ Level 09] - Module](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/58872670/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](Corporate Social Responsibility, 2019
This module will provide the learner with a comprehensive and critical engagement with Corporate ... more This module will provide the learner with a comprehensive and critical engagement with Corporate Social Responsibility. Modern business is defined by various responsibilities, which today include being socially and environmentally responsible, sustainable and ethical. Therefore, the demand made on contemporary business is not alone to be the best in the world but also the best for the world.
Learners will acquire the theories, analytical expertise, and ethical tools, to respond to a growing array of engagements, including ethical investment, sustainable development, community and workforce engagement, global supply chains, diversity in talent and opportunities, and with modern human rights.
Learners will develop a Corporate Social Responsibility statement and engage with processes of accountability and bench-marking strategies to integrate processes of Corporate Social Responsibility into their everyday commercial practice.
The module will is a blended module (online and in the classroom), and suitable for off-site (distance) postgraduate learning.
This module will be taught as part of a new Master of Arts in Humanities in Professional Leadership in 2019/20.
https://www.itsligo.ie/courses/ma-humanities-professional-leadership/
![Research paper thumbnail of Law and Social Work [NFQ Level 9] - Module](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/58872642/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](Law and Social Work, 2018
On successful completion of this module, participants will have an advanced knowledge of Irish la... more On successful completion of this module, participants will have an advanced knowledge of Irish law as it applies to the social work profession. This programme will address areas of relevant law where social work clients are involved with the law, including child welfare, access, guardianship, custody, adoption, domestic violence, maintenance, and in cases of divorce and separation, also disability, and mental health are addressed during the module.
Participants will become adept in the rights, duties and responsibilities of a social worker working in a professional role of assisting clients to navigate their way through the Irish legal system, and acting as an advocate on their behalf.
Participants will learn to practice in a professional, non-discriminatory way, and exercise a professional duty of care while discharging their legal and statutory duties.
Social workers also encounter organisation-specific laws which determine the services available to clients and regulate standards of confidentiality, obtaining consent, data protection, freedom of information, record keeping, and providing professional evidence in various forums. Therefore, participants will also demonstrate competency in report-writing and delivering oral evidence, and in critically evaluating ethical and legal dilemmas encountered in their caseload.
https://www.itsligo.ie/courses/ma-social-work/
![Research paper thumbnail of Professional Ethics in Social Work Practice [NFQ level 9] - Module](https://attachments.academia-assets.com/58872620/thumbnails/1.jpg)
](Professional Ethics in Social Work Practice, 2018
Contemporary social work has recognised social justice and professional ethics as core contributi... more Contemporary social work has recognised social justice and professional ethics as core contributions to professional competency that have roots in the early history of the profession. Many international and national codes of ethics for social workers, including the Irish Association of Social Workers, contain social justice principles in their ethical statements. Social justice theory is also judged as a strong feature that influences good practice in the Social Work profession. Social work values and ethics have informed practice in the areas of professional decision making, ethical dilemmas and ethical risk management.
Consequently, this module aims to provide a general overview of approaches to social justice sources, which include normative ethical theories and moral reasoning (libertarian, utilitarian, contractual, egalitarian, and communitarian). Emphasis is given to the contemporary capabilities approach to articulate a framework for social justice practice, and to examine societal access to resources and inclusion in opportunities. Similarly, an ethic of care in contemporary society is articulated to evaluate and existing anti‑oppressive practices in social work, and appraise core ethical principles and standards. Lastly, International standards drawn from human rights law are examined to evaluate how law can further social work practice as an anti‑oppressive practice and for the promotion of societal equality. Interdisciplinary readings and personal stories from social work cases are accessed to translate social justice, and core ethical concepts into tangible social work practice.
https://www.itsligo.ie/courses/ma-social-work/
Module for Introduction to human rights law to First year BA degree students for the programme BA... more Module for Introduction to human rights law to First year BA degree students for the programme BA with Human Rights.
The Bachelor of Arts with Human Rights is an exciting, four year degree programme offered by the College of Arts, Social Sciences, and Celtic Studies in conjunction with the Irish Centre for Human Rights. The programme is unique in several respects, chiefly because it is the first and only undergraduate
programme of its kind in the Republic of Ireland, thus allowing undergraduates to specialise in a field that was previously reserved to postgraduate study.
See http://www.nuigalway.ie/courses/undergraduate-courses/arts-with-human-rights.html
Study papers by Leonard Francis Taylor
According to Ni Aolain and Campbell ‘the first 50 years of the Northern Ireland state was also a... more According to Ni Aolain and Campbell ‘the first 50 years of the Northern Ireland state was also a period characterised by severe democratic dysfunctionality ’. Prior to the outbreak of conflict in Northern Ireland the situation could have been termed a “frozen” conflict. ? Could the conflict re-freeze into a “cold peace” if the issue of genuine reconciliation is not considered only to reignite again? This essay responds to that question and maps the future.
Please note: this paper should be appropriately cited. Please ask if you wish to have access to i... more Please note: this paper should be appropriately cited. Please ask if you wish to have access to it.
The purpose of this essay is to look at the overall conduct of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) aerial bombing campaign in Kosovo in 1999, focusing in on the few occasions where civilian casualties occurred and to review those instances in the light of the applicable law. Therefore it will include a review of the law as found in Additional Protocol I of the Geneva Conventions and look more specifically at what constitutes a legitimate military objective under Humanitarian Law and note in particular how dual-purpose targets became problematic and endanger civilian lives. Fighting a war for humanitarian reasons has consequences for armed forces and this will be reflected upon as well.
Draft papers by Leonard Francis Taylor
The purpose of this article is to articulate the tradition of women’s rights within Catholicism a... more The purpose of this article is to articulate the tradition of women’s rights within Catholicism and present a more complex portrait of feminism in Catholicism, which impacts on the way human rights are articulated and argued on the international level where the human rights of women are concerned.
LL.M Thesis by Leonard Francis Taylor
Please note: this thesis should be appropriately cited. Please ask if you wish to have access to ... more Please note: this thesis should be appropriately cited. Please ask if you wish to have access to it.
This essay will use many practical examples of where quarter was given and where it was refused to illustrate this particular issue and law of war. The first chapter of this investigation into the laws associated with the prohibition of a denial of quarter will focus on the historical and customary norms that have existed prior to its codification as part of international law. The second chapter will take up the codification and examine the weakness and strengths of the law as it evolved. The final chapter will review the law as it stands today and examine the issues that arise in relationship to the concept of adverse distinction. We also review an example of the denial of quarter in Afghanistan investigated by the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Killing.
Papers by Leonard Francis Taylor
Catholic Cosmopolitanism and Human Rights, 2020
In a dusty corner of my attic I recently discovered on an old•• yellowed manuscript, which was pr... more In a dusty corner of my attic I recently discovered on an old•• yellowed manuscript, which was printed in rather new letters, a little parable that seems relevant to an understanding of the role ' ~ of the Supreme Court in our democracy and, moreover, seems ..t fitting starting point for a discussion of, and a search for, a legitimate; role for the Court, i.e. one that is compatible with democracy, This discussion and search include criticism of the role the Court has actually played in the recent past and the "faulty teaching" tha~ • : has resulted, all of which will bring us back to Lance v. Board of Education of Roane County," discussed in Part I.-AParable-Adam is a man of indeterminate age. He has been sitting in his study, in sober and reflective contemplation as to how he will litit{/ his life. His old servant, Samuel, has just entered. Adam: Samuel, my good and faithful servant, I have jii.sl • written a resolution as to how I shall live my Zif e. It is a list of pre:,;\ cepts, worked out through reason, here in the quiet of my study, a.f though, Lord knows, with much fevered debate with myself. t: think, if I keep to them, they give me the best rusurance I coul/1 want of a long and happy life. (Hands Samuel the Resolution.) Samuel: I see, yes, well very commendable. Adam: Now these precepts, by which I hope to govern mj\ future conduct, are a list of things I cannot do. Of course being' a reasonable and experienced man, I know that under stress an{!': momentary passion, such resolutions are often broken even by th{ most resolute of men. But I'm most determined to avoid such lapst~ and that's why I've called you in. I have made you a sort of guarditir{ of my Resolution. In fact I have provided for it as part of the Reso!~~ lion, itself. You know I think of you as my wisest old servant. You're.' very learned in the law, which I have a particularly great respec(
Catholic Cosmopolitanism and Human Rights, Cambridge University Press (March 5, 2020), 2020
It is because Catholicism played such a formative role in the construction of Western legal cultu... more It is because Catholicism played such a formative role in the construction of Western legal culture that it is the focal point of this enquiry. The account of international law from its origin in the treaties of Westphalia, and located in the writing of the Grotian tradition, had lost contact with another cosmopolitan history of international law that reappeared with the growth of the early 20th century human rights movement. The beginnings of the human rights movement, grounded in democratic sovereign power, returned to that moral vocabulary to promote the further growth of international order in the 20th century. In recognising this technique of periodically returning to Western cosmopolitan legal culture, this book endeavours to provide a more complete account of the human rights project that factors in the contribution that cosmopolitan Catholicism made to a general theory of sovereignty, international law and human rights.
[150 words – 1200 characters ]
Religions, 2020
(This article belongs to the Special Issue Catholicism and European Politics) Political Catholi... more (This article belongs to the Special Issue Catholicism and European Politics)
Political Catholicism began in the 20th century by presenting a conception of confessional politics to a secularizing Europe. However, this article reveals the reworking of political Catholicism’s historical commitment to a balance of two powers—an ancient Imperium and Sacerdotium—to justify change to this position. A secular democratic faith became a key insight in political Catholicism in the 20th century, as it wedded human rights to an evolving cosmopolitan Catholicism and underlined the growth of Christian democracy. This article argues that the thesis of Christian democracy held a central post-war motif that there existed a prisca theologia or a philosophia perennis, semblances of a natural law, in secular modernity that could reshape the social compact of the modern project of democracy. However, as the Cold War ended, human rights became more secularized in keeping with trends across Europe. The relationship between political Catholicism and human rights reached a turning point, and this article asks if a cosmopolitan political Catholicism still interprets human rights as central to its embrace of the modern world.
Irish Journal of Sociology, 2020
This research explores service providers’ views on the barriers that prevent women in the sex wor... more This research explores service providers’ views on the barriers that prevent women in the sex work industry in Ireland from accessing co-ordinated health services. A purposive sample of eight service providers in the field of women’s health and social care in the West of Ireland were selected and interviewed for this study. The service providers were asked about their perception of the barriers of sex workers accessing health and social care services. Using thematic analysis, three key themes were identified: (1) lack of knowledge of women’s involvement in sex work; (2) identified barriers to health services; and (3) legislative and policy barriers to providing supportive services. While the service providers acknowledged that they do not knowingly provide services for sex workers, they all recognise that some of their service users are at risk of, and potentially are, involved in sex work. Yet, they were able to identify some of the barriers sex workers face when accessing their services. All these barriers were the result to the services’ limited capacity to support women engaging in sex work. At the time of data collection, the legislative context meant that selling sex under certain conditions was outside the law. This study highlights the consequences that criminalisation can have on the health of sex workers and the need for a paradigm shift in existing health and social care services. In this paper, we propose that a social justice rather than a criminal justice approach has the potential to address sex workers’ right to access appropriate health care. This paper gives due recognition to marginalised women, and advocates for better provision of services for women in the sex industry, while considering the new legislation of 2017.
Pedagogy of robotics in the social professions in Europe (Erasmus + Programme), 2019
This paper addresses the issue of the regulation of AI and social robotics. As novel and emerging... more This paper addresses the issue of the regulation of AI and social robotics. As novel and emerging technologies, these provide challenges to existing models and systems of regulation. The paper outlines the context for development of regulation, including some of the key technological developments and outlines principles for the regulation of novel technologies: including the ethics, human rights and capabilities models. It identifies the key challenges in the regulation of AI and social robotics. It reviews regulatory initiatives in supranational and transnational organisations, national organisations both within and outside the state, and in industry.
Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review, 2021
Taylor LF (2021) Massimo Faggioli, Joe Biden and Catholicism in the United States (New London, CT... more Taylor LF (2021) Massimo Faggioli, Joe Biden and Catholicism in the United States (New London, CT: Bayard, 2021), 176 pages. Studies: An Irish Quarterly Review 110(439): 389-395.
Irish Jurist (LXIV, 2020), 2020
Amartya Sen’s The Idea of Justice (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009) provided a taxono... more Amartya Sen’s The Idea of Justice (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2009) provided a taxonomy to usefully distinguish between various theories of justice that appeared during the European Enlightenment in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries, with two approaches that might be adopted. “Transcendental institutionalism” concentrated on perfect justice, with a focus on institutional arrangements, and is represented by “contractarian” modes of thinking.
Irish Times, 2020
Taylor, L. (2020). Catholic cosmopolitanism and human rights: Secular democracy was to be a frien... more Taylor, L. (2020). Catholic cosmopolitanism and human rights: Secular democracy was to be a friend of the church, and human rights a common vocabulary. Irish Times. [online] Available at: http://bit.ly/2PJfnNY [Accessed 4 Mar. 2020].
"The long and often complex history of human rights reveals entanglements and processes that reach back into a premodern history that engage with how international law is formed, the meaning of sovereignty, the uses of diplomacy and political action, and indeed the place of religion, in restraining or exerting influence on the exercise of political power".
Conference: Myron Taylor, Holy See and US Foreign Policy: New Transatlantic Perspectives on Catho... more Conference:
Myron Taylor, Holy See and US Foreign Policy: New Transatlantic Perspectives on Catholicism and European Politics. European University Institute, Fiesole John Cabot University, Rome.
The development of Christian democracy in the 20th century presented a conception of confessional politics to a secularising Europe. A secular democratic faith was a key insight in political Catholicism in the 20th century, that wedded human rights to an evolving cosmopolitan Catholicism and underlined the growth of Christian democracy. One central motif held there exists a prisca theologia or a philosophia perennis, semblances of a natural law, in secular modernity that could reshape the social compact of the modern project of democracy. However, in the later 20th century, human rights became more secularised in keeping with trends across Europe. This chapter addresses the relationship between Christian democracy and human rights, and asks if political Catholicism is in retreat from human rights. Therefore, this chapter addresses the future of political Catholicism as a cosmopolitan project that viewed human rights as central to its embrace of the modern world.
Human Rights in Ireland, 2015
The following post highlights current debate at the United Nations, particularly at the recent 28... more The following post highlights current debate at the United Nations, particularly at the recent 28th Session of the Human Rights Council on the situation in Northern Iraq and Syria as a consequence of the spread of ISIS(Islamic State of Iraq and al Sham or sometimes called ISIL, Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant). Religious minorities and ethnic groups are of particular concern and the Holy See has invoked the doctrine of a responsibility to protect. The following post assesses this option in light of the impasse at the Security Council. The proposal to establish an ad-hoc tribunal for Syria and potentially northern Iraq appears to be the next most reasonable step.
Human Rights in Ireland, 2015
The challenge to take a few steps back to facilitate dialogue between feminism and religion is a ... more The challenge to take a few steps back to facilitate dialogue between feminism and religion is a two way street, one to be taken up both by feminists as well as the Catholic church.
Human Rights in Ireland, Oct 22, 2014
From October 5 – 19th an Extraordinary Synod of Catholic bishops called by Pope Francis took plac... more From October 5 – 19th an Extraordinary Synod of Catholic bishops called by Pope Francis took place in Rome to look at issues concerning the family. It will provide the Catholic Church with a preliminary text to prepare and orientate the discussion for a General Synod in October 2015.
Corporate Social Responsibility, 2019
This module will provide the learner with a comprehensive and critical engagement with Corporate ... more This module will provide the learner with a comprehensive and critical engagement with Corporate Social Responsibility. Modern business is defined by various responsibilities, which today include being socially and environmentally responsible, sustainable and ethical. Therefore, the demand made on contemporary business is not alone to be the best in the world but also the best for the world.
Learners will acquire the theories, analytical expertise, and ethical tools, to respond to a growing array of engagements, including ethical investment, sustainable development, community and workforce engagement, global supply chains, diversity in talent and opportunities, and with modern human rights.
Learners will develop a Corporate Social Responsibility statement and engage with processes of accountability and bench-marking strategies to integrate processes of Corporate Social Responsibility into their everyday commercial practice.
The module will is a blended module (online and in the classroom), and suitable for off-site (distance) postgraduate learning.
This module will be taught as part of a new Master of Arts in Humanities in Professional Leadership in 2019/20.
https://www.itsligo.ie/courses/ma-humanities-professional-leadership/
Law and Social Work, 2018
On successful completion of this module, participants will have an advanced knowledge of Irish la... more On successful completion of this module, participants will have an advanced knowledge of Irish law as it applies to the social work profession. This programme will address areas of relevant law where social work clients are involved with the law, including child welfare, access, guardianship, custody, adoption, domestic violence, maintenance, and in cases of divorce and separation, also disability, and mental health are addressed during the module.
Participants will become adept in the rights, duties and responsibilities of a social worker working in a professional role of assisting clients to navigate their way through the Irish legal system, and acting as an advocate on their behalf.
Participants will learn to practice in a professional, non-discriminatory way, and exercise a professional duty of care while discharging their legal and statutory duties.
Social workers also encounter organisation-specific laws which determine the services available to clients and regulate standards of confidentiality, obtaining consent, data protection, freedom of information, record keeping, and providing professional evidence in various forums. Therefore, participants will also demonstrate competency in report-writing and delivering oral evidence, and in critically evaluating ethical and legal dilemmas encountered in their caseload.
https://www.itsligo.ie/courses/ma-social-work/
Professional Ethics in Social Work Practice, 2018
Contemporary social work has recognised social justice and professional ethics as core contributi... more Contemporary social work has recognised social justice and professional ethics as core contributions to professional competency that have roots in the early history of the profession. Many international and national codes of ethics for social workers, including the Irish Association of Social Workers, contain social justice principles in their ethical statements. Social justice theory is also judged as a strong feature that influences good practice in the Social Work profession. Social work values and ethics have informed practice in the areas of professional decision making, ethical dilemmas and ethical risk management.
Consequently, this module aims to provide a general overview of approaches to social justice sources, which include normative ethical theories and moral reasoning (libertarian, utilitarian, contractual, egalitarian, and communitarian). Emphasis is given to the contemporary capabilities approach to articulate a framework for social justice practice, and to examine societal access to resources and inclusion in opportunities. Similarly, an ethic of care in contemporary society is articulated to evaluate and existing anti‑oppressive practices in social work, and appraise core ethical principles and standards. Lastly, International standards drawn from human rights law are examined to evaluate how law can further social work practice as an anti‑oppressive practice and for the promotion of societal equality. Interdisciplinary readings and personal stories from social work cases are accessed to translate social justice, and core ethical concepts into tangible social work practice.
https://www.itsligo.ie/courses/ma-social-work/
Module for Introduction to human rights law to First year BA degree students for the programme BA... more Module for Introduction to human rights law to First year BA degree students for the programme BA with Human Rights.
The Bachelor of Arts with Human Rights is an exciting, four year degree programme offered by the College of Arts, Social Sciences, and Celtic Studies in conjunction with the Irish Centre for Human Rights. The programme is unique in several respects, chiefly because it is the first and only undergraduate
programme of its kind in the Republic of Ireland, thus allowing undergraduates to specialise in a field that was previously reserved to postgraduate study.
See http://www.nuigalway.ie/courses/undergraduate-courses/arts-with-human-rights.html
According to Ni Aolain and Campbell ‘the first 50 years of the Northern Ireland state was also a... more According to Ni Aolain and Campbell ‘the first 50 years of the Northern Ireland state was also a period characterised by severe democratic dysfunctionality ’. Prior to the outbreak of conflict in Northern Ireland the situation could have been termed a “frozen” conflict. ? Could the conflict re-freeze into a “cold peace” if the issue of genuine reconciliation is not considered only to reignite again? This essay responds to that question and maps the future.
Please note: this paper should be appropriately cited. Please ask if you wish to have access to i... more Please note: this paper should be appropriately cited. Please ask if you wish to have access to it.
The purpose of this essay is to look at the overall conduct of the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) aerial bombing campaign in Kosovo in 1999, focusing in on the few occasions where civilian casualties occurred and to review those instances in the light of the applicable law. Therefore it will include a review of the law as found in Additional Protocol I of the Geneva Conventions and look more specifically at what constitutes a legitimate military objective under Humanitarian Law and note in particular how dual-purpose targets became problematic and endanger civilian lives. Fighting a war for humanitarian reasons has consequences for armed forces and this will be reflected upon as well.
The purpose of this article is to articulate the tradition of women’s rights within Catholicism a... more The purpose of this article is to articulate the tradition of women’s rights within Catholicism and present a more complex portrait of feminism in Catholicism, which impacts on the way human rights are articulated and argued on the international level where the human rights of women are concerned.
Please note: this thesis should be appropriately cited. Please ask if you wish to have access to ... more Please note: this thesis should be appropriately cited. Please ask if you wish to have access to it.
This essay will use many practical examples of where quarter was given and where it was refused to illustrate this particular issue and law of war. The first chapter of this investigation into the laws associated with the prohibition of a denial of quarter will focus on the historical and customary norms that have existed prior to its codification as part of international law. The second chapter will take up the codification and examine the weakness and strengths of the law as it evolved. The final chapter will review the law as it stands today and examine the issues that arise in relationship to the concept of adverse distinction. We also review an example of the denial of quarter in Afghanistan investigated by the Special Rapporteur on Extrajudicial, Summary or Arbitrary Killing.
Catholic Cosmopolitanism and Human Rights, 2020
In a dusty corner of my attic I recently discovered on an old•• yellowed manuscript, which was pr... more In a dusty corner of my attic I recently discovered on an old•• yellowed manuscript, which was printed in rather new letters, a little parable that seems relevant to an understanding of the role ' ~ of the Supreme Court in our democracy and, moreover, seems ..t fitting starting point for a discussion of, and a search for, a legitimate; role for the Court, i.e. one that is compatible with democracy, This discussion and search include criticism of the role the Court has actually played in the recent past and the "faulty teaching" tha~ • : has resulted, all of which will bring us back to Lance v. Board of Education of Roane County," discussed in Part I.-AParable-Adam is a man of indeterminate age. He has been sitting in his study, in sober and reflective contemplation as to how he will litit{/ his life. His old servant, Samuel, has just entered. Adam: Samuel, my good and faithful servant, I have jii.sl • written a resolution as to how I shall live my Zif e. It is a list of pre:,;\ cepts, worked out through reason, here in the quiet of my study, a.f though, Lord knows, with much fevered debate with myself. t: think, if I keep to them, they give me the best rusurance I coul/1 want of a long and happy life. (Hands Samuel the Resolution.) Samuel: I see, yes, well very commendable. Adam: Now these precepts, by which I hope to govern mj\ future conduct, are a list of things I cannot do. Of course being' a reasonable and experienced man, I know that under stress an{!': momentary passion, such resolutions are often broken even by th{ most resolute of men. But I'm most determined to avoid such lapst~ and that's why I've called you in. I have made you a sort of guarditir{ of my Resolution. In fact I have provided for it as part of the Reso!~~ lion, itself. You know I think of you as my wisest old servant. You're.' very learned in the law, which I have a particularly great respec(
Catholic Cosmopolitanism and Human Rights, 2020
The paradoxical arrival of a Christian and Catholic rights based tradition in the early 20th cent... more The paradoxical arrival of a Christian and Catholic rights based tradition in the early 20th century problemitises histories of international law and human rights. An historical presentation of the emergence of international law tends to move progressively from Grotius and the Enlightenment period of natural rights, toward the 19th century’s classical formulations of international law. From there an account of the development of international law moves from the League of Nations to the construction of the United Nations after World War II and the process of building institutions and international mechanisms, agreeing treaties and establishing Courts to settle disputes, unfolds. The advancement of an era for international law and politics, initiated an alignment of global institutions, which included the participation of the human rights project, bringing rights ideas into in its normative assumptions. Nevertheless, this account creates its own boundaries, setting some normative values at the centre and others to the periphery. One striking question that drives this thesis is how religion moved, and continues to move, across and through that standard narrative, from the centre to the periphery. It is because Catholicism played such a formative role in the construction of Western legal culture that it became the focal point of this enquiry. The account of international law from its origin in the treaties of Westphalia, and located in the writing of the Grotian tradition, had lost contact with another historical tradition of international law that reappeared with the growth of the early 20th century human rights movement. This thesis seeks to relocate and reunite that history of law and political theory that has shadowed this dominant narrative. Western legal culture had looked to the Christian religion for its foundational ideas, and at the beginnings of the human rights movement returned to that moral vocabulary to ground the further growth of international order in the 20th century. In recognising this technique of periodically returning to religion by Western legal culture, this thesis endeavours to provide a more complete account of understanding the human rights project that factors in the contribution that Catholicism made to a general theory of sovereignty, international law and human rights.2021-02-2
Religions, 2020
Political Catholicism began in the 20th century by presenting a conception of confessional politi... more Political Catholicism began in the 20th century by presenting a conception of confessional politics to a secularizing Europe. However, this article reveals the reworking of political Catholicism’s historical commitment to a balance of two powers—an ancient Imperium and Sacerdotium—to justify change to this position. A secular democratic faith became a key insight in political Catholicism in the 20th century, as it wedded human rights to an evolving cosmopolitan Catholicism and underlined the growth of Christian democracy. This article argues that the thesis of Christian democracy held a central post-war motif that there existed a prisca theologia or a philosophia perennis, semblances of a natural law, in secular modernity that could reshape the social compact of the modern project of democracy. However, as the Cold War ended, human rights became more secularized in keeping with trends across Europe. The relationship between political Catholicism and human rights reached a turning po...
Irish Journal of Sociology, 2020
This research explores service providers’ views on the barriers that prevent women in the sex wor... more This research explores service providers’ views on the barriers that prevent women in the sex work industry in Ireland from accessing co-ordinated health services. A purposive sample of eight service providers in the field of women’s health and social care in the West of Ireland were selected and interviewed for this study. The service providers were asked about their perception of the barriers of sex workers accessing health and social care services. Using thematic analysis, three key themes were identified: (1) lack of knowledge of women’s involvement in sex work; (2) identified barriers to health services; and (3) legislative and policy barriers to providing supportive services. While the service providers acknowledged that they do not knowingly provide services for sex workers, they all recognise that some of their service users are at risk of, and potentially are, involved in sex work. Yet, they were able to identify some of the barriers sex workers face when accessing their se...
Catholic Cosmopolitanism and Human Rights, 2020