Welcome to the Conference
The Organising Committee welcomes delegates to the 22nd International Conference of the International Society for the Reform of the Criminal Law. The Conference will be held in Dublin from 11-15 July 2008 in the historic venue of Dublin Castle.
The Conference will take place against the backdrop of the launch last year of the Irish Criminal Law Codification Project. Arrangements for the conference have been facilitated by the Irish Criminal Code Team at University College Dublin and the Department of Justice, Equality and Law Reform. The Conference has attracted widespread interest and support from the Irish legal community and the various Offices of State connected with Irish criminal law. The proceedings will be chaired by the Honourable Mr Justice John L Murray, Chief Justice of Ireland. The opening address will be given by the President of Ireland, Mrs Mary McAleese.
The theme of this year’s Conference is Codifying the Criminal Law: Modern Initiatives. Topics for discussion include: the current Irish codification initiative; differing approaches to codification in the common law tradition; the constitutional framework of codification; codifying the general principles of criminal liability; codifying excuse and justification defences; codifying the Special Part, with particular emphasis on homicide and sexual offences.
In addition, there will be a mixture of plenary and workshop sessions on the following matters: terrorism and the criminal law; drugs legislation; sentencing; victims and witnesses in the criminal process; dangerous and persistent offenders; mental disorder and the criminal law; young offenders; and the criminal liability of corporations.
The International Society for the Reform of Criminal Law is an international, non-governmental association of judges, legislators, lawyers, academics and governmental officials who have come together to work actively on the administration of criminal justice, both in their own jurisdictions and internationally.