The Law Faculty at NUI Galway, which has been closely involved in the debate concerning the legal rights of persons with disabilities in Ireland and abroad, will host the first ever European Summer School on Disability Discrimination Law from the 4th to the 15th July 2005.

The Summer School has attracted major financial backing from the European Commission as part of its general campaign against disability discrimination. It will explore a new EU Directive that offers substantially enhanced legal protection for disabled Europeans who number at least 45 million.

The Summer School is open to all members of the public as well as their legal advisers interested in finding out more about the new Directive as well as its potential uses for and on behalf of persons with disabilities.

NUI Galway's Law Faculty includes many staff members who have had direct litigation experience before courts such as the US Supreme Court, the European Court of Justice and the European Court of Human Rights.

Highlights of the Summer School include a series of talks by Professor Peter Blanck who is a leading disability rights litigator before the US Courts and by Professor Christopher McCrudden of Oxford University. The main aim is to equip the participants with the practical skills needed to begin making use of the EU anti-discrimination law in the disability context.

The Director of the Summer School, NUI Galway's Professor Gerard Quinn said:
We are proud of our research track record at NUI Galway in the area of Disability Law and view this Summer School as a logical development in the area. The Summer School is designed to provide persons with disabilities from all over Europe with a unique learning opportunity to find out more about their rights at a European level and to begin exercising them more forcefully. We expect a diverse range of disabled participants from throughout Europe which will provide a huge learning opportunity in itself. The knowledge provided to the disability groups and their legal advisers should enable them to craft better legal strategies at both the European and Irish levels.

A dedicated website has been set up for the Summer School and can be accessed through the Faculty of Law at NUI Galway: http://www.nuigalway.ie/law/Disability_summer_school/index.html