Editorial

• Author: Maria Cahill
• Pages: 1-3

EDITORIAL

JUSTICE

FOR

OUR

TIMES?

SHAPING

LAW

FOR

A

CHANGING

WORLD

The

world

as

we

know

it

is

passing

away.

Humanity

stands resolutely

on

the

quicksand between

the

powerful

tides

of

ideas

and

inertias,

of

revolution

and

reticence,

of

aspiration

and

apathy.

We

cannot

now,

nor

could

we

ever,

refuse

to

acknowledge

the

gift

of

the

opportunity

we

are

given

to

make

a

choice

as

to which

wave

to

sail upon.

The

theme

of

Volume

Six

of

the

Trinity

College

Law

Review

has

been

chosen to

reflect

the

simple

truth

that

law

cannot

exist

in

a

societal

vacuum; that

it

can

neither

deny

nor

discount

the

world

in

which

it

operates.

While

it

is

clear

that

the

law

is,

in

Mary

Rogan's

words,

a

"powerful

social

tool"

and

serves

as

a

cohesive

force

in

society,

it

is

also

true

that

that

same

'society'

continually moulds

the

law

until each becomes

a

reflection

of

the

other.

In

her article,

Legitimacy

in

the

Criminal

Justice

System

of

Northern

Ireland,

Rogan

argues

that,

since

negative legitimacy

begets

negative legitimacy

and

positive

legitimacy

reinforces

positive

legitimacy,

the

solution

to

a

legitimacy

crisis

must

be

both

top-down

and

bottom-up

-

an

ongoing

dialogue

between

all

parties,

leading

to

reasoned,

balanced

and

just

solutions.

The

societal

forces

laying permanent

siege

to

the

mighty

Castle

of

Legal

Rules

come

in

the

form

of

many

disparate groupings:

politicians

with

local,

national

or transnational

mandates, lobby

groups with

a

plethora

of

special

interests, academics, scientists

and

other

'expert'

decision-making

bodies,

activist

(and

non-activist!)

members

of

the

judiciary

and,

occasionally,

the

assertive

student.

The

first

two

articles

in

the

journal

tackle

the

controversial subject

of

public

interest litigation.

A

New

Legal

Approach

to

Reducing

Social

Exclusion

by

Paul

O'Connell

and

Deirdre

Malone,

lambastes

the

'conservative' attitude

of

the Irish

judiciary

to

socio-economic rights

and

outlines

the

mindset

the

Public

Interest Lawyer

must

adopt

and the

role

he

or

she

must

play

in

future public interest

litigation. Meanwhile,

in

Opening

up

the

Courts

to

the

Marginalised,

Orla Ni

Chuilleandin

looks

at

the