What is the Study of Law?

The first time I worked at UCD open day for the Law School was in second year. Excited to talk to potential students about my subjects, my classes and UCD’s opportunities, I knew I could tackle all their technical questions and calm their qualms. Until the first query flummoxed me...

“What is law?”

Reams of books by academics are devoted to answering this very question. Here’s the nifty google definition for you;

law/lô/

Noun:

1.      The system of rules that a particular country or community recognizes as regulating the actions of its members and may enforce by the... 2.      An individual rule as part of such a system.

However maybe the more pertinent question for you guys is what the study of law is.

What it ISN'T is just learning off statutes. The focus is on older cases, and how you can use them to help win new ones. Though written down, law is full of nuances and uncertainties, and the job of lawyers is to work out what the answer should be when faced with something that the statute doesn’t define.

Here are a few notable cases that I've studied so far in college. If you find them interesting or can find arguments for both sides you might just have the makings of a lawyer!

R v Dudley and Stevens 1884

Four men are stranded in a lifeboat after a shipwreck. These are Dudley and Stephens, along with the ship’s captain Brooks and the 17 year old cabin boy Parker. After 20 days, including several without any food or water, Dudley and Stephens proposed one person sacrifice himself in order to save the rest, and that they pull straws to decide who it was. A few days later, Parker had fallen into a coma, and seeing no rescue in sight and believing that Parker was close to death Dudley and Stephens decided to kill and eat him. Four days later they were rescued. Without killing Parker they would all have died in the meantime. Were they guilty of murder?

Re a Ward of Court 1995

After an accident at age 22 a patient is almost brain-dead but can be kept physically alive by the use of artificial feeding. She is kept this way for 23 years, cannot speak or move and has minimal recognition skills. The doctors want to withdraw the feeding tubes and let her die naturally but her family want to keep her alive indefinitely. Both sides think their way is in the best interests of the patient. What should the court decide?

Norris v AG 1983

David Norris argues that laws making homosexuality illegal violate his right to privacy. Is this true?

AG v X 1992

In the Irish Constitution both the right to life of a mother and the right to the life of an unborn child are protected, and thus abortion is illegal here. In this case a 14 year old girl, who was pregnant after being raped, claimed she would commit suicide if forced to give birth to the child. Should she be allowed have an abortion?

McD v L 2009

A gay man donates his sperm to a lesbian couple he was friends with so they can have a baby. Afterwards they fight and the women decide to move to Australia. Could the sperm donor make them stay in Ireland so he could see the child?

R v Burgess 1991

A man wounds a woman by hitting her with a video recorder while sleepwalking. Is he guilty of a crime?