May 2006 Disability Discrimination Summer School 2006 to take place at NUI Galway

The second Annual Summer School on Disability Discrimination law will take place in the National University of Ireland, Galway, from 6-16 June 2006. It is the only such disability event in Europe and is partnered by a similar Summer School on racial discrimination in the University of Maastricht. It is hosted by the Faculty of Law at the National University of Ireland, Galway, and co-financed by the European Commission. Last year it attracted participants from over a dozen countries.

The main focus of the Summer School is the European Union Framework Directive on Employment which prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities (among others) in the broad employment sphere. The Summer School appeals to lawyers and legal advisers to non governmental organisations (NGOs) interested in crafting test case strategies under the Directive on the ground of disability. It also makes the information accessible to non-legal audiences and has been successful in attracting NGOs interested in using the law to advance the rights of persons with disabilities.

The Director of the Programme, Professor Gerard Quinn of the National University of Ireland, Galway, said, "The issues are interesting and varied and include topics such as medical testing and the law, the interaction of health & safety law with non-discrimination law and the vexed notion of reasonable accommodation." He added that, "The field is likely to grow as there is pressure on Brussels to adopt a much broader Directive covering fields such as housing and education. Indeed, the Directive has already provided the model for drafting the United Nations treaty on the rights of persons with disabilities which should be adopted by the United Nations later this year."

The course itself will be taught by leading practitioners in disability law who have experience in litigating the issues before a variety of courts including the US Supreme Court (Professor Peter Blanck, Syracuse University), the House of Lords (Robin Allen, Queen's Counsel), the Canadian Courts (Patricia Bregman, Attorney), the European Court of Justice (Professor Marc De Vos, Ghent University) and the European Court of Human Rights (Professor Olivier De Schutter, Catholic University of Louvain). A highlight of the course is a moot court competition organised around practical issues that are likely to confront the European Court of Justice when dealing with disability discrimination issues.

Further information is available from the Summer School website at: www.eusummerschool.info

- ends - For further information contact Rachel Stevens, Faculty of Law, NUI Galway, Tel: + 353 (0)91 492085 Email: disability@eusummerschool.info