Launch of the Report Drawing the Line: Tackling Tensions between Religious Freedom and Equal Treatment
The event will take place on Tuesday 21 June 2016 at 3pm – 5pm in the Radisson Blu Royal Hotel, Golden Lane, Dublin 2. To reserve a place, please RSVP to info@iccl.ie or call Jason on 01 7994504
All are welcome. Places are limited so early booking is advised. Legal practitioners should note that CPD points are available for attendance at this event.
This report examines several of the questions now the subject of litigation, public debate, and policy discourse. The report focuses on three specific areas:
- religious freedom and the rights of LGBT individuals;
- religious freedom and reproductive rights;
- and religious freedom as expressed in appearance.
Through the examination of a sampling of key cases, the report aims to articulate principles and recommendations that can guide advocates and policymakers in consideration of these issues. Consideration of these issues will be a central theme of the moderated discussion which will include notable human rights layers, Irish constitutional experts and practitioners.
The report is published by the International Network of Civil Liberties Organisations (INCLO) and is available here.
About the Speakers
Louise Melling – Deputy Legal Director at the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU)
Louise is a Deputy Legal Director of the ACLU and the Director of its Centre for Liberty. The Centre encompasses the ACLU’s work on reproductive freedom, women’s rights, lesbian gay bisexual and transgender rights, and freedom of religion and belief. Before assuming this role, Louise was Director of the ACLU Reproductive Freedom Project, in which capacity she oversaw nationwide litigation, communications research, public education campaigns, and advocacy efforts in the state legislatures. Ms. Melling has appeared in federal and state courts around the country to challenge laws that restrict reproductive rights. She has appeared in many media outlets, including CNN, PBS News Hour, Frontline, the New York Times, Washington Post, and USA Today.
Eoin Daly – Lecturer in Law, NUI Galway
Eoin specialises in political theory, constitutional law, law and religion, and the separation of Church and State. Eoin has published widely in these areas and major publications have included recent books – The Political Theory of the Irish Constitution: Republicanism and the Basic Law (2015, Manchester University Press) and Religion, Law and the Irish State: the Constitutional Framework in Context. (2012, Clarus)
Prof Veronica O’Keane – Senior Lecturer, Department of Psychiatry, Trinity College Dublin and Consultant Psychiatrist AMiNCH Hospital, Tallaght
Professor Veronica O’Keane is a consultant psychiatrist in Tallaght Hospital Dublin and a professor in Psychiatry in Trinity College Dublin. She previously had senior tenured posts in Addenbrooke’s Hospital, Cambridge; The Institute of Psychiatry, London; and Beaumont and St James’s Hospitals, Dublin. Her current main research interests are in the area of stress systems, particularly during foetal development and in adult depression. In 2014 Veronica addressed the UN Human Rights Committee on Ireland’s abortion laws and, in particular, the provisions of the Protection of Life During Pregnancy Act 2013 and the issue of conscientious objections by clinicians.
About INCLO
The International Network of Civil Liberties Organisations (INCLO) comprises eleven domestic human rights organisations: the American Civil Liberties Union, the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, the Canadian Civil Liberties Association, Centro de Estudios Legales y Sociales (Argentina), the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights, the Human Rights Law Network (India), the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union, the Irish Council for Civil Liberties, the Kenya Human Rights Commission, the Legal Resources Centre (South Africa), and Liberty (United Kingdom). Each organisation is multi-issue, multi-constituency, domestic in focus, and independent of government.
INCLO members advocate on behalf of all persons in their respective countries through a mix of litigation, legislative campaigning, public education, and grass-roots advocacy. These organisations have come together to advocate jointly for fundamental rights and freedoms.