Mohr on Opposition to the 1922 Irish Free State Constitution @UCDLawSchool

Thomas Mohr, Sutherland School of Law, University College Dublin, has published Opposition to the 1922 Irish Free State Constitution as UCD Working Papers in Law, Criminology & Socio-Legal Studies Research Paper No. 8-2023. Here is the abstract.

This paper outlines why some Irish people felt that they could not support the 1922 Constitution of the Irish Free State and how they expressed their opposition to it. The most obvious group that opposed the 1922 Constitution were those that had also opposed the Anglo Irish Treaty signed in 1921. This paper will examine the legal arguments used by this group to challenge the validity of the 1922 Constitution. It will also examine unionist objections and the position of those who felt that they could support the Treaty but had serious reservations concerning the Constitution. The overall objective of this analysis is to provide a better understanding of the circumstances in which the 1922 Constitution came into force.

Download the article from SSRN at the link.

Legal Constitutionalism In the Irish Constitutional Tradition

Tom Hickey, Dublin City University, is publishing Judges as God's Philosophers: Re-Thinking 'Principle' in Constitutional Adjudication in Judges, Politics and the Irish Constitution (L. Cahillane, J. Gallen and T. Hickey (eds.), Manchester University Press, 2016). Here is the abstract.

This chapter identifies and critiques two strands of 'legal constitutionalism' in the Irish constitutional tradition: a classical 'minimal state' strand and a contemporary Rawlsian/Dworkinian strand. It argues against both on the basis that, in different ways, they fail to account for the political and contestable nature of rights. The chapter argues for a model of constitutionalism that accounts for the principled contribution that judicial review can make to public deliberation and outcomes, but that similarly accounts for its potential weaknesses.

Download the chapter from SSRN at the link.