Drafting the Irish Free State Constitution

The book explores the relationship between violence against women on one hand, and the rights to health and reproductive health on the other. It argues that violation of the right to health is a consequence of violence, and that (state) health policies might be a cause of – or create the conditions for – violence against women. It significantly contributes to feminist and international human rights legal scholarship by conceptualising a new ground-breaking idea, violence against women’s health (VAWH), using the Hippocratic paradigm as the backbone of the analysis. The two dimensions of violence at the core of the book – the horizontal, ‘interpersonal’ dimension and the vertical ‘state policies’ dimension – are investigated through around 70 decisions of domestic, regional and international judicial or quasi-judicial bodies (the anamnesis). The concept of VAWH, drawn from the anamnesis, enriches the traditional concept of violence against women with a human rights-based approach to autonomy and a reflection on the pervasiveness of patterns of discrimination (diagnosis). VAWH as theorised in the book allows the reconceptualisation of states’ obligations in an innovative way, by identifying for both dimensions obligations of result, due diligence obligations, and obligations to progressively take steps (treatment). The book eventually asks whether it is not international law itself that is the ultimate cause of VAWH (prognosis).

This book challenges the myths surrounding the Irish Free Constitution by analysing the document in its context, by looking at how the Constitution was drafted and elucidating the true nature of the document. It examines the reasons why the Constitution did not function as anticipated and investigates whether the failures of the document can be attributed to errors of judgment in the drafting process or to subsequent events and treatment of the document.

As well as giving a comprehensive account of the drafting stages and an analysis of the three alternative drafts for the first time, the book considers the intellectual influences behind the Constitution and the central themes of the document.

This work constitutes a new look at this historic document through a legal lens and the analysis benefits from the advantage of hindsight as well as the archival material now available.

Given the fact that the current Constitution substantially reproduces much of the 1922 text, the work will be of interest to modern constitutional scholars as well as legal historians and anyone with an interest in the period surrounding the creation of the Irish State.

This book bridges the gap between the legal theory propounded in academic works and the practical implementation of customary and treaty law as evidenced by military manuals, operational orders and instructions or in reports relating to incidents occurring in armed conflict. It illustrates conflicts, generally those in which British sailors, soldiers and airmen have been involved. The book highlights the more recent judgments and opinions of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia, the International Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights, the comprehensive work of the International Committee of the Red Cross with regard to customary international humanitarian law and the meaning of 'direct participation in hostilities', the Harvard University air and missile warfare project, the San Remo Manual on non-international armed conflicts, and the UK Law of Armed Conflict Manual of 2004. It discusses the protection of the wounded and sick, the security aspects of belligerent occupation and, because this is constantly raised as a weakness of the law of armed conflict, on the implementation and enforcement of this branch of the law. Concerns about recent events, such as publication of the 'Torture Papers', conditions at Abu Ghraib, the perceived 'legal hole' at Guantanamo Bay or the United Kingdom's Baha Mousa inquiry, caused the author to reflect on the utility of the law of armed conflict given the apparent willingness of some to exploit loopholes in the law or deploy ingenious approaches to its interpretation to the detriment of humanity.