Foreword

It is my great pleasure to introduce the current volume of the Galway Student Law Review.  The Review is now in its third volume and has gown exponentially since its inception.  In its own way, it showcases the breadth and depth of student-led research now underway in the Faculty of Law. 

This volume is much larger than the previous two and contains a broader spread of articles.  The quality of the finished product owes much to the industry and inspiration of Faculty who are extraordinarily research active on a broad range of fields.  It also owes much to Larry Donnelly who, as Faculty Advisor on the project, has ensured that the idea of a student law review at NUI, Galway has become a flourishing reality.  Must of all, it reflects well on the law students who are obviously keen not merely to learn the law, but also to reflect further and deeper on how it should be reformed to do justice in a rapidly changing Ireland. 

The articles themselves hold their own intrinsic interest.  The Lead Article emanates from our new Public Law LL.M. programme, designed primarily to equip postgraduate students with the necessary skills and insights to interact constructively with a variety of bodies in Ireland that drive law reform forward.  The participants in the LL.M. Communications Law class crafted the Lead Article, an updated version of their oft-cited submission to the Broadcast Commission of Ireland.  This is typical of the work of that LL.M. class, which has also made group submissions to the Law Reform Commission.

Another symposium set of articles deals with the vexed issue of unenumerated rights under the Irish Constitution and flows directly from research undertaken by undergraduate students of constitutional law.   It is important to afford publishing opportunities for the research done by undergraduates who will hopefully acquire the habit of putting their legal knowledge to good use in the public interest as their careers unfold.  A variety of other articles deal with the challenge of keeping pace with technological change and indeed an application of Critical Legal Studies to Irish rape law.

Due to the gradual introduction of Clinical Legal Education in our Faculty, it is planned that students themselves will not only assume greater editorial control, but will actually acquire direct academic credit for doing so.  This is in keeping with the overall mission of NUI, Galway as a community of knowledge and also as an agent of responsible change in our democracy.  I thank the contributors and all those who made this volume possible.

                                                                                    Prof. Gerard Quinn

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