Editorial

• Author: Fergus O'Domhnaill
• Pages: 9-11

EDITORIAL

Volume Ten

of

the

Trinity College

Law Review marks

a

decade

of

hard

work

and

dedication

to

legal

scholarship.

What

the

authors

and

editors lack

in

experience,

they make

up

for

in

ability,

effort

and love

for

the

law.

Since

the

publication

of

the

first TCLR

in

1998,

a

fine

tradition

of

academic

research

has

developed

among

students

in

the

Law School

and

further

afield.The

diversity

of

themes contained

in

the

past

ten

volumes

is

nothing

short

of

astonishing.

Year

upon year,

past

editors

have

consistently

represented

a

remarkable

spectrum

of

topics:

from

private nuisance

to

intellectual

property,

and from

treason

to

socio

economic rights. This

year,

a

similar balance

is

achieved.

In

Moving

Towards

a

Legal

Constitution,

Chong

Siew

Lin

Grace

examines

the

cracks which

have

appeared

in

the

founding principle

of

British constitutional

law:

the

concept

of

parliamentary supremacy.

In

a

balanced

and

comprehensive

article,

Chong

discusses

the

warning

bell

sounded

by the

House

of

Lords

in

the

decision

of

Jackson

v

AG.

In

that

case, the

Lords

suggested

that

the

principle

of

parliamentary

supremacy

could

be

curtailed

in

some

circumstances,

if

Parliament

were

to

act

in

an

unconstitutional manner.

In

examining

the

concepts

underpinning

the

separation

of

powers

doctrine,

Chong convincingly

argues that

the

judiciary

should not

be

hasty

in

upsetting

the

delicate

equilibrium that

exists

between

the

judiciary

and

the

other branches

of

government.

Paradoxically,

any

judicial

reaction

to

unconstitutional

acts

of

the

executive

could inversely

affect

judicial

legitimacy.

Michael

Moran

also

has

concerns about

judicial

legitimacy.

In

his

article

on

Impartiality

in

Judicial

Appointments,

he

advocates

the

view

that

impartiality

has

as

much

to

do with

appointing

judges

as

it

does

with

being

a

judge.

There

has

been

a

dearth

of

commentary

on

the

judicial

appointments

process

in

Ireland.

Moran engages

in

a

healthy

debate

on

the

topic;

identifying

the legal

and

political system surrounding

the

Irish

appointments process,

and

outlining

the

need

for

reform

in

this

area.

In

Coca,

Cocaine

and

the

Rights

of

Indigenous

Peoples,

James

Kirk

underlines

the

inherent

dangers

in

failing

to take

account

of

the

cultural

practices

of

indigenous

peoples

in

International

Law.

His

article

highlights

the

complications

involved

in

applying broad

instruments

of

International

Law to

indigenous minorities,

and

questions whether

the

current

mechanisms

which

apply to

minority practices

are

sensitive

enough

to

recognise the religious

practices

and

human

dignity

of

these peoples.