Launch of the Maynooth Centre for European Law

The Maynooth Centre for European Law (MCEL) marked its launch with a keynote address by Judge Dean Spielmann of the General Court of the EU. Judge Spielmann – who is a former President of the European Court of Human Rights – addressed the topical question of “Protecting the Rule of Law in Europe: Deploying the full potential of European judicial mechanisms”. The lecture was chaired by Ms Justice Niamh Hyland (High Court of Ireland).

 
The Maynooth Centre for European Law serves as the institutional hub for the School’s significant European Law expertise. We define European law broadly, to incorporate both EU law, the law of the ECHR, but also the law of the EU’s neighbourhood, such as the law of the European Economic Area or the law of “Brexit”.

 

The centre is led by Prof Tobias Lock and Dr Karen Lynch Shally. Overall, there are currently 13 full-time members of staff affiliated with the centre plus doctoral students and post-docs. Research interests are varied, ranging from traditional EU constitutional and internal market law to European private law, IP law, environmental and climate change law, asylum and migration law, data protection law, IT law, European and domestic courts, labour law, social security law, fundamental rights law, just to mention a few examples.