Public Interest Law
Public interest law is not a field of law in the normal sense of the term (such as family or company law). Rather it is a way of working with the law for the benefit of vulnerable and disadvantaged people. In the literature there is no one precise definition of PIL which is widely accepted. Indeed, the meaning of the term is influenced by the legal and political culture of the society in which it operates.
FLAC has started a new initiative to promote public interest law in Ireland, the Public Interest Law Alliance (PILA). It will have its own website up and running very shortly. You can contact the PILA team which is composed of
- Tony O'Riordan, PILA Manager
- Edel Quinn, Legal Information Officer
- Jo Kenny, Legal Officer
- Lianne Murphy, Project Officer
Drawing on existing literature, public interest law involves
- Law reform - this includes research on issues of concern, developing reform proposals, lobbying and campaigning (many Irish legal NGOs are involved, to a greater or lesser extent, in these activities);
- Legal education - this involves incorporating an awareness of public interest into third level and professional legal education through, for example, the teaching of public interest law (as is currently the case in TCD) or the development of clinical (i.e. practical) legal education as a structured part of the course of education (as in NUI Galway and UCC);
- Public legal education - this involves a range of measures to 'demystify' the law and to raise awareness of the law amongst disadvantaged and vulnerable people. Examples include the provision of information materials (in print or on-line), community legal education projects, training, 'Street Law' programmes in the USA and elsewhere where law students deliver legal education to members of the public;
- Public interest litigation - this involves the use of litigation (i.e. the process of bringing a case to court) in a strategic manner to advance the position of disadvantaged and vulnerable groups. It involves a wide range of activities from the identification of an issue, identification of potential cases, preliminary advice, the bringing of the case itself, and the implementation of the court's decision. Consideration of this area will also involve looking at alternative forms of resolving issues of law (such as, in the Irish case, the Ombudsman).
Note: FLAC has run a series of seminars on various topics in Public Interest Law. To read more about them and to download papers, please see our Past Events Section.