Legal and political aspects of the Lisbon Treaty were central themes at the recent Law Society conference in Budapest.
The keynote speech was delivered by the Minister for Justice, Equality and Law Reform, Brian Lenihan. As Ireland has a legal system very similar to the UK's, the European Council decided that Ireland should have the same opt-in arrangement as the UK in relation to justice and home affairs matters. As a result, under the Lisbon Treaty, Ireland "will make decisions on justice issues on a case by case basis", he said, although the Government will review these arrangements in three years' time.
The former taoiseach and current EU ambassador to the United States, John Bruton, was a draftsman of the originally proposed EU Constitution on which the Lisbon Treaty is based. He spoke passionately of the European ideal and of the need to adopt this treaty to perfect the legal order of the EU.
The Deputy Director of Public Prosecutions, Barry Donoghue, gave the conference an expert analysis of the legal and practical difficulties that will confront any attempt to establish the office of European Public Prosecutor provided for in article 69 of the treaty.
The conference was also addressed on issues facing the legal profession in Ireland by the president of the Law Society, James MacGuill, and across Europe by Peter Kovec, the president of the CCBE, which is the representative body of the Bars and Law Societies of Europe.
