PILA Launches New All-Ireland NGO Guides

Wednesday, 14th September 2022, saw the Launch of the new All-Ireland NGO Guides at the FLAC offices at 85/86 Dorset Street Upper. The event was the culmination of months of collaboration between PILA (Public Interest Law Alliance), a project of FLAC, The PILS Project NI and local law firm Arthur Cox LLP. The speakers for the day were Eilis Barry, FLAC CE, Carolann Minnock, Pro Bono Associate at Arthur Cox LLP, Naoise Cosgrove senior associate in the Litigation, Dispute Resolution and Investigations Department at Arthur Cox, Sinead Lucey, Managing solicitor of FLAC and Conrad Bryan, member of the Review Panel and founding Trustee of AMRI and chair of its Irish Racial Justice Forum.

It is widely understood that we can do more when we work together and thus this idea of a set of Guides which can be utilised across the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland through a cross-border collaboration was born. The idea behind the Guides was to have legal processes explained in clear, plain language so that NGOs can gain an understanding of these legal remedies and knowledge of when and how they can and should be availed of. Legalese can be confusing for non-lawyers and therefore these Guides include practical examples of cases that have appeared before the Courts.

In addition to remedies accessible via the Courts, the Guides also discuss the furtherance of social justice through non-court forums and complaint mechanisms. The Guides explain the procedures and principles that these mechanisms entail. They aim to assist in ensuring that access to justice is an accessible right and is used to build and maintain a fair society. PILA and The PILS Project NI are committed to assisting NGOs and remain available to providing support and assistance above and beyond these Guides.

The topics of the Guides are:

• An NGO Guide to being appointed an Amicus in the Irish court system
• An NGO guide to individual non-court complaint mechanisms at the European level
• An NGO guide for engaging with UN Special Procedures mandate holders
• An NGO guide for taking individual complaints to UN Human Rights Treaty Bodies
• An NGO Guide to Judicial Review

These Guides are available online on the PILA and The PILS Project NI websites.

Here is the link to the Guides on PILA's website.