20 February 2007

Scrymgeour seminar series

The role the Crown plays in Scots law and the affect that devolution has had on it will be explored in the latest of the Scrymgeour Seminar Series at the University of Dundee tomorrow (February 21st).

Aidan O'Neill QC, of the Faculty of Advocates, will deliver the seminar titled, "The status of the Crown in Scots law: does devolution make a difference?".

The seminar, hosted by the School of Law, takes place at 4pm in the Moot Court Room, Scrymgeour Building. All are welcome to attend.

Further information on Aidan O’Neill QC:
Aidan O’Neill is qualified to appear as counsel in Scotland, as well as in the courts of England and Wales. He practises in both jurisdictions, and has a public law/commercial practice involving a significant element of advice and court appearances on issues of European law, particularly in the fields of human rights, private international law, commercial contract, and employment and discrimination law. He has appeared as senior counsel before the European Court of Justice, the Judicial Committee of the Privy Council, the House of Lords, the Court of Session (Inner and Outer House), and the High Court of England & Wales (Administrative Division), as well as before the sheriff courts in Scotland and the county court in England and Wales.

From 1997 to 1999, Aidan O’Neill was standing Junior Counsel to the Scottish Office Education & Industry Department. Since taking silk in Scotland in 1999 he has maintained a strong profile in discrimination and employment law issues, while his practice has continued to develop in the area of judicial review, (notably in relation to prisoners’ rights) as well as in issues of constitutional law post-devolution. He has a particular interest in the inter-relationship between EU law, human rights law and domestic law.

In addition to law degrees from Edinburgh and Sydney universities, Aidan O’Neill also holds a Masters degree in European and International law from the European University Institute, Florence. He has recently been elected as Joint Fellow in Law and Normative Inquiry at the University Center for Human Values/Law and Public Affairs, Princeton University, a sabbatical position which he will be taking up in September 2007 for a year. He has written three legal text books to date: EC for UK Lawyers, a guide to the impact which EU law has on a wide variety of domestic fields of practice including company law, immigration and asylum, intellectual property, employment protection and discrimination, consumer law and private international law; Decisions of the European Court of Justice and their constitutional implications, a survey of the manner in which the ECJ created the conditions for a European constitution and has transformed the UK constitution; and Judicial Review in Scotland: a practitioner’s guide. He has also contributed chapters to a number of legal books, and is the author of many talks and articles in academic journals, particularly in the field of human rights, constitutional law and EU law.

For media enquiries contact:

Roddy Isles
Head, Press Office
University of Dundee
Nethergate Dundee, DD1 4HN
TEL: 01382 384910
E-MAIL: r.isles@dundee.ac.uk