AdVIC: the Victims’ Rights Alliance

The issue

Advocates for Victims of Homicide (AdVIC), which campaigns for the rights of families and friends of victims of homicide, identified the need for a State-appointed Victim Liaison Officer Programme that would support families through the criminal justice process.

What PILA did

PILA set up a Law Reform Working Group to collaborate on the campaign – later joined by the Dublin Rape Crisis Centre (DRCC) and Support After Homicide (SAH). The Working Group produced a draft Victims of Crime Bill that was presented to the Department of Justice, and then shifted focus to consider developments in EU victims’ rights and the Irish implementation of the Victims’ Rights Directive.

The result

In November 2013, AdVIC, DRCC and SAH were joined by 12 other organisations in establishing the Victims’ Rights Alliance (VRA) – coordinated by Maria McDonald BL, a PILA pro bono barrister. The VRA campaigned for timely and effective implementation of the Directive, and continues to work with the Department of Justice on the Criminal Justice (Victims of Crime) Bill 2015.

Housing Policy Working Group: Collective Complaint

The issue

Conditions in Local Authority housing across 20 communities around Ireland mean that 130,000 low income families – or close to 355,000 people – are living with persistent dampness, mould, sewerage, poor maintenance and pyrite. Independent medical evidence shows that these conditions have detrimental effects on the health of tenants, in particular children, the elderly and other vulnerable people.

What PILA did

Over 5 years, the Housing Policy Working Group – made up of Community Action Network (CAN), The Centre for Housing Law, Rights and Policy at National University Ireland Galway, Ballymun Community Law Centre, Dr. Rory Hearne of the Geography Department at National University Ireland Maynooth and the Irish Traveller Movement (ITM) – was supported by PILA and FLAC in bringing together a collective complaint against Ireland.

The result

In July 2014, the International Federation for Human Rights (FIDH), of which FLAC is a member organisation, lodged this landmark Collective Complaint to the European Committee of Social Rights around housing procedures and standards applied to social tenancies in Ireland which adversely affect social inclusion.  The Complaint was deemed admissible by the Committee in March 2015.

The complaint alleged that Irish law, policy and practices on Local Authority housing do not comply with European standards, including standards relating to housing, social protection and anti-discrimination. It argues that poor conditions and other issues on housing estates violate key articles of the Revised European Social Charter, to which Ireland signed up in 2000, including the right to health, the right of families and children to have social, legal and economic protection and the right to protection against poverty and social exclusion.

In October 2017, the Committee published its decision finding Ireland in violation of Article 16 of the Charter by failing to provide adequate conditions for families living in local authority housing. Article 16 protects the right of the family to social, legal and economic protection. This includes the right to provision of family housing by the State.

In October 2018, the Irish Government will be asked to notify the European Committee of Social Rights of measures taken or planned to rectify housing conditions in the year since the decision was published. This violation of the Charter will be now used as leverage in bringing safe housing to 20 local authority estates, while hopefully inspiring other social movements to use the collective complaint mechanism.

Click here for a video made by Community Action Network and residents on the collective complaints procedure.

St. Vincent de Paul & McDowell Purcell: Energy Efficiency in Private Rented Sector

The issue

In 2014, the Society of St. Vincent de Paul (SVP) launched research on energy poverty in Ireland which found that the inability of people to afford adequate household warmth is caused by various factors, including inadequate income and living in rented homes with poor energy efficiency.

The research showed that while improved energy efficiency would not take those families with inadequate incomes out of poverty, it would make a big difference to their budget, the comfort levels in their homes, and enhance their health and wellbeing. Armed with this knowledge, SVP sought to establish what legal measures, if any, supported and promoted energy efficiency in Ireland.

What PILA did

PILA identified the need to map current legislation, drawing together the relevant resources before seeking pro bono assistance from the legal team at McDowell Purcell. PILA then guided the group in preparing a research report on the law in relation to energy efficiency in private rental accommodation in Ireland. The report was also peer reviewed by Brendan Hennessy BL.

The result

The report found that no specific provision is currently made in legislation for the rating of energy efficiency of private rental accommodation in Ireland.  While a number of physical standards for rental accommodation have been introduced since 1992, these do not apply retrospectively and do not specifically promote energy efficiency.

The study recognised that under the Government’s Construction 2020 programme, a working group exists which will investigate the feasibility of introducing minimum thermal efficiency standards for rental properties. Such standards for rental properties if introduced would serve to reduce energy poverty, improve health and minimise emissions from the private rented sector.

SVP now has a solid basis on which to advocate for better rental standards.

TENI & FLAC: Gender Recognition in Ireland

The issue

Until 2015, Ireland was the only country in the EU that made no provision for the legal recognition of transgender people. On foot of a successful case brought by Dr. Lydia Foy before the Irish courts, the Transgender Equality Network Ireland (TENI) and FLAC sought to address this inequality through the introduction of legislation.

What PILA did

PILA formed a Law Reform Working Group with TENI, FLAC and David Dodd BL, a barrister on the PILA Pro Bono Register. They worked together to draft a Private Member’s Bill on gender recognition, which was subsequently proposed in the Seanad by Independent Senator Katherine Zappone.

The result

The Bill, together with the ongoing FLAC-supported Foy litigation, increased pressure on the Government to publish an outline of potential gender recognition legislation, which they eventually did in July 2013. Although the fight for adequate gender recognition spanned another two years, according to Broden Giambrone, Director of TENI, “the collaboration with PILA, FLAC, David Dodd BL and Katherine Zappone [was] a fantastic experience and a great opportunity for TENI. The individual experience that each of us brought to the table created a strong foundation on which to build legislation. By building our knowledge we formed robust, rights-based draft legislation that set a high bar for gender recognition in Europe. We were all strengthened by our partnership”.