Maynooth University Associate Professor in Law, Dr Fergus Ryan, delivered a paper at the Irish Supreme Court Review at Trinity College, Dublin on Saturday 12th October. Fergus spoke on the Supreme Court decisions in PP v Judges of the Dublin Circuit Court [2019] IESC 26, a key decision concerning the historic offence of gross indecency between men. In the case, the Supreme Court examines the law relating to the age of consent for sexual acts, the effects of a finding of unconstitutionality, the need for a litigant to have locus standi based on his or her own circumstances and not those of others, and the ability of courts to 'read down' legislation to bring it into conformity with constitutional values. The judges also make some interesting obiter comments on the previous Supreme Court decisions in Norris v Attorney General [1984] IR 36.
Further details of the conference are available at http://www.iscr.ie/iscr.ie
The paper will be published in the forthcoming Irish Supreme Court Review."
