Law – Family & Child Law

The aim of this course is to give the student a detailed understanding of the provisions of Irish law which impact upon the family. The student will be given a thorough knowledge of the case law and legislation in this area of law.

This programme is an ECTS 15 credit module of the Law Degree.

On completion of this course, students should be able to:

Critically assess the definition of the family within Irish law, and be able to differentiate and analyse, on the basis of rights, the positions of both marital and non-marital families in the Irish Constitution;

Assess the impact of nullity, separations and divorce on marriage contracts, and will fully understand the situations in which these may be invoked;

Demonstrate a thorough and integrated knowledge of the legal structures in place within Irish family law to combat domestic violence and debate the case for reform of the law in this area;

Critically assess the approach of the Irish courts and the legislature to the status of children in Irish society;

Independently construct and resolve complex family law problems, demonstrating an integrated knowledge of the subject area;

Identify and analyse areas of the law which are in need of reform, articulate and discuss any proposals put forward for such reform and debate their merits.;

Research aspects of family and child law either independently or as part of a group and communicate findings and proposals in written and/or verbal form;

Identify and discuss the inter-relationship between the various elements on the syllabus and apply this integrated knowledge to problems/case studies.