For decades, UCD has been at the forefront of constitutional scholarship in Ireland. The School of Law has produced a host of graduates and scholars who have shaped the development of constitutional law and theory in Ireland and overseas. Today, the staff of the School of Law include a large number of nationally and internationally recognised experts in the area of constitutional studies. The staff of the School have an active research and publication record in the fields of Irish constitutional law, European constitutional law, comparative constitutional law, constitutional governance and constitutional history and theory, and have been extensively involved in the work of national and international bodies in these areas. School staff are also heavily involved in supervising the large number of postgraduate students who choose to conduct research into this area in UCD. The School is also in the process of establishing a new Constitutional Studies Group, which will further enhance the School's leading role in conducting interdisciplinary research and encouraging public understanding and debate on questions of constitutional law and theory.

Staff: Dr Marie-Luce Paris, John O’Dowd

UCD School of Law is a leading base for research in Dispute Resolution, Arbitration and ADR. The School of Law has a strong international and domestic reputation in the field of dispute resolution and has produced influential publications in the field. Since 1992 the School has contributed to the advancement of arbitration in Ireland through research and teaching at Diploma and Master’s level. In 2001 the School became the home to the ECODIR (Electronic Consumer Dispute Resolution) project which pioneered research into Online Dispute Resolution (“ODR”) and in the use of negotiation and mediation in consumer disputes. More recently research and seminars held in the School have contributed to the shaping of the Irish Arbitration Act 2010. The School welcomes inquiries from prospective PhD students and research partners interested in research in this area.

Staff: Brian Hutchinson

Research Student: Patrick Ibekwe

The School of Law has broad expertise in Irish, European and International Human Rights Law and in the theory of rights protection with research being published in major international peer-reviewed journals including the Modern Law Review, Oxford Journal of Legal Studies, International and Comparative Law Quarterly and American Journal of Comparative Law. Specialist sub-fields within the School include: freedom of expression and privacy (Eoin Carolan, John O’Dowd), terrorism and human rights (Fiona de Londras), comparative human rights law ( Dr Marie-Luce Paris, Fiona de Londras, Angela Ward (adjunct professor)), asylum and human trafficking (Suzanne Egan), rights in national and international criminal justice systems (John Jackson, Finbarr McAuley), economic, social and cultural rights (John O’Dowd), rights and regulation (Colin Scott, Fiona de Londras), corporate social responsibility (Blanaid Clarke), institutions of rights enforcement and protection (Suzanne Egan), and rights of prisoners (Ian O’Donnell). Academics in the School have a strong record of public engagement on human rights: Suzanne Egan is a Member of the Irish Human Rights Commission and Fiona de Londras is the founder and a managing editor of the Human Rights in Ireland blog.

The School has recently launched a new interdisciplinary LL.M. in Human Rights Law which is organised in conjunction with the UCD School of Politics and International Relations and offers a unique, inter-disciplinary perspective on the scope, content and protection of human rights drawing from law, political theory and international relations. It also coordinates the UCD Human Rights Network which brings together researchers from five UCD Schools (Law, Politics and International Relations, Philosophy, Social Justice and Business) and two UCD research centres and institutes (The UCD Clinton Institute and the Institute for British-Irish Studies) for interdisciplinary seminars and events on human rights themes throughout the academic year.

Staff: John Jackson, Suzanne Egan, Fiona de Londras, Eoin Carolan, John O’Dowd, Colin Scott, Ian O’Donnell, Marie-Luce Paris, Angela Ward (adjunct professor)

Research students: Aysel Allahverdiyeva, Alan Greene, Kanstantsin Dzehtsiarou, Diarmuid Griffin, Andrea Ryan

UCD School of Law has been enhancing its research focus in the area of legal education. Legal Education is an emerging field of research interest in the School of Law with a particular focus on internationalization and Europeanization of the law curriculum (Dr. Marie-Luce Paris), and the space where legal education takes place (Mr. John O’Dowd and Professor Imelda Maher) with the latter field of interest arising out of the planning for the new Sutherland School of Law building that will open in 2012. Faculty have published in specialised journals such as the European Journal of Legal Education, and have been active in participating in research events at national, European and international level. The School has been involved in the rounds of Legal Education Symposia organized in Ireland, co-hosting the Third Symposium in March 2009, as well as in the Irish Association of Law Teachers. Faculty has presented at other major conferences overseas, such as the European Law Faculties Association conference, the Learning in Law Annual conference at the UK Centre for Legal Education, the International Association of Law Schools conference, and the 18th Congress of the International Academy of Comparative Law (national report on Legal Education). Professor Roger Burridge, former director of the UK Centre for Legal Education and a leading authority in the field, is a visiting professor at the School.

Staff: Marie-Luce Paris, John O’Dowd, Imelda Maher

UCD School of Law is a leading centre for research in the field of Regulation and Governance with strong interdisciplinary linkages to other Schools and Institutes within the University, notably the School of Politics and International Relations, the UCD Earth Systems Institute, the UCD Geary Institute and the UCD Institute of Food and Health and to other major research centres in Europe, North America, Asia and Australasia. Academic staff and research students in the School are amongst the leading and emergent scholars in the field of regulation and governance in Ireland and internationally, with a strong track record of publication in leading peer-reviewed journals and with the major academic presses. Research in the School engages with many of the main sub-fields including environmental regulation (Joanne Blennerhasset, Suzanne Kingston), corporate governance (Blanaid Clarke, Peer Zumbansen), competition regulation (Suzanne Kingston, Mary Catherine Lucey, Imelda Maher), international food and trade regulation (Joseph McMahon) regulation of communications and new technologies (TJ McIntyre, Colin Scott), regulation of charities and NGOs (Oonagh Breen), transnational private regulation (Blanaid Clarke, Fiona de Londras, Colin Scott, Peer Zumbansen), regulation and human rights (Fiona de Londras, TJ McIntyre) in addition to regulatory theory (Colin Scott, Peer Zumbansen). Research activity comprises both small scale legal research and larger interdisciplinary funded projects. Current funded research projects involving staff and research students of the School include Constitutional Foundations of Transnational Private Regulation (Funded by the Hague Institute for the Internationalisation of Law), Regulatory Capacity and Networked Governance (co-funded by the Irish Research Council for Humanities and Social Sciences and the Institute of Public Administration), Reflexive Governance in the Public Interest (EU FP6), Mapping the Irish State (IRCHSS). Colin Scott is Co-Editor of Law & Policy, one of the leading international journals in the field and an editorial board member of Regulation & Governance. Imelda Maher is an Editor of the European Law Journal, a leading international journal in European governance. The School is host to the ECPR Standing Group on Regulatory Governance Biennial Conference in June 2010.

Staff: Joanne Blennerhasset, Oonagh Breen, Blanaid Clarke, Suzanne Kingston, Fiona de Londras, Mary Catherine Lucey, TJ McIntyre, Joseph McMahon, Imelda Maher, Colin Scott, Peer Zumbansen , Eoin Carolan.

Research Students: Ursula Atueyi, Martina Brady, Donal Casey, Mary Dobbs, Dan Hayden, James Lawless, Marek Martyniszyn, Oana Stefan, Kamil Piszczek, Stephanie Switzer.