School of Law

Dr Donal Coffey

Lecturer in Law

Portsmouth Business School

donal.coffey@port.ac.uk

Profile

Education

Donal gained his LLB from Trinity College Dublin. He completed his PhD in Irish constitutional history in University College Dublin. He was the recipient of the Irish Legal History’s Studentship during his PhD studies. Having previously taught in University College Dublin, Donal joined the School of Law in 2011.

Teaching Interests

Donal’s interests are primarily in the area of constitutional law, legal history, jurisprudence, and  comparative constitutional law.

Articles

“Judicial Review in the Irish Free State” (2011) Dublin University Law Journal (page 61)
“British, Commonwealth, and Irish Responses to the Abdication of King Edward VIII” (2009) Irish Jurist 95.
“The Judicial Pension Levy: A Reply to Prof. Gwynn Morgan” (2009) Irish Law Times 271.
“Article 28.3.3, the Natural Law and the Judiciary: Three Easy Pieces” (2004) Irish Law Times 310.

Other Publications

“Book Review: Hall, The Superior Courts of Law: ‘Official’ Law Reporting in Ireland 1866-2006” (2009) Dublin University Law Journal 475.
“Book Review: Carolan and Doyle, The Irish Constitution: Governance and Values” (2008) Irish Jurist 135.
“Book Review: Keogh and McCarthy, The Making of the Irish Constitution 1937” (2007) Irish Jurist 136.

Recent Publications


Newspapers etc

 “A ‘Yes’ vote on Oireachtas inquiries will bring us a vital democratic function” (2011) www.thejournal.ie (23 Oct)
“Sensitive Issue of Judicial Pensions Requires Calm Consideration” (2011) Irish Times (9 May)

Conference Papers

“The Need for a new Constitution: Irish Constitutional History 1932-1935” for the Society of Legal Scholars 2011 Conference (6 Sept 2011)
“Comparative Influences on the Drafting of the 1937 Constitution” for the Irish Society of Comparative Law (30 April 2011)
“Distributive Justice and the Separation of Powers” for the Irish Jurisprudence Society Winter Series (10 Dec 2009).
“Commonwealth Perspectives on the Abdication of King Edward VIII” for the Irish Society of Comparative Law (28 Feb 2009).
“Hart’s Rule of Recognition: The Vagaries of Constitutional Foundation” for the Irish Jurisprudence Society Winter Series (25 Oct 2007)
“The Constitution and the Campaign Trail: The Plebiscite of 1937” at “The Evolution of the Irish Constitution 1937-2007” conference organized by the School of History and Archives UCD (9 Mar 2007)

Memberships

Donal is a member of the Society of Legal Scholars, Irish Jurisprudence Society, Irish Society for Comparative Law, and Irish Legal History Society.