Attorney General Máire Whelan SC has appointed NUI Galway lecturer Donncha O’Connell to the Law Reform Comission. Mr O’Connell will replace Mr Justice Donal O’Donnell of the Supreme Court and will serve as part-time Commissioner.
Prior to his appointment, Mr O’Connell was the Dean of Law at NUI Galway where he continues to teach European Human Rights and Constitutional Law. He is currently editor of the Irish Human Rights Law Review and a member of the Board of Directors of the London-based NGO, INTERIGHTS (The International Centre for the Legal Protection of Rights).He is also a member of the Legal Aid Board.
Mr O’Connell has extensive experience in the field of European Human Rights having served as the Irish member of the EU Network of Independent Experts on Fundamental Rights in 2002 and as the senior member of FRALEX, the legal expert group that advised the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights. In the past he has also been a board member of the Free Legal Advice Centres (FLAC) and Amnesty International-Ireland.
The Law Reform Commission is an independent, statutory body established under the Law Reform Commission Act 1975. Its purpose is to keep the law under review and to make recommendations for law reform in keeping with the changing nature of Irish society. Its scope was expanded in 2006 to include new projects on statute law restatement and the legislation directory.