McCarthy Scholar Deirdre Moore completes Stage in European Court of Human Rights

This September I had the privilege of spending a month in Strasbourg working in the European Court of Human Rights for Judge Síofra O’Leary as part of the Niall and Barbara McCarthy Bursary. Convention law was relevant to a large extent in my postgraduate studies so it was brilliant to gain insight into the operation of the Court and to meet various personnel working there as Judges, Lawyers, Registrars and of course other Stagiaires. During my internship, I was shown how applications were determined at the admissibility stage, and attended a meeting of the Committee of Ministers regarding the enforcement of various judgments of the Court in the respondent member states. Seeing the mechanics of bringing a case to the European Court of Human Rights at its inception and then its conclusion at enforcement stage was extremely interesting and beneficial to me as someone who hopes to pursue a career with a Human Rights aspect in the future.

A highlight of the month was attending a Grand Chamber hearing in the case ND and NT v. Spain in which the applicants alleged that Spain had violated Article 4 Protocol 4 to the Convention prohibiting the collective expulsion of aliens. At this hearing I had the opportunity of hearing the submissions of counsel for the applicants, the Spanish Government and Grainne O’Hara of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees. Needless to say the submissions were extremely interesting in and of themselves but it was also brilliant to see a different style of advocacy in an international Court before a panel of seventeen judges each from different jurisdictions and diverse legal systems. Working for Judge O’Leary also gave me an opportunity to build on my knowledge of convention law and put my legal research skills to practical use.

I had an extremely enriching and fascinating experience in the European Court of Human Rights and am very grateful to the McCarthy family for selecting me as the recipient of the Niall and Barbara McCarthy Bursary in 2017.

Deirdre Moore, Barrister–at–Law Modular 2 Student