This conference is similar to TRALVU held on 26 October 2023, giving you the opportunity to attend if previously missed. 

Aim and Objectives
Migration towards the EU is a complex socio-economic phenomenon that is evolving fast and in various directions. The current migratory situation creates difficulties not only in relation to the management of huge flows of migrants but also in ensuring protection of their fundamental rights. 

This becomes even more important when the migrants are vulnerable groups because, as highlighted by the EU Agency for Fundamental Rights (FRA), their vulnerability makes them more exposed to violence, exploitation and human trafficking, as well as physical, psychological and sexual abuse.

This one-day seminar aims to train Irish lawyers on EU immigration and asylum law, with a particular focus on vulnerable groups of migrants.

This seminar is suitable for: solicitors familiar with immigration issues and experienced working with groups of vulnerable migrants. Those who attended the TRALIM conference, held at the Law Society on 9 March 2023, would also find this particularly useful as it advances the subject matter.

This seminar is held in conjunction with the European Lawyers Foundation (ELF), Spanish Bar Association, Athens Bar Association, Italian Bar Association, Polish Bar of Attorneys-at-Law, Cyprus Bar Association and Paris Bar Association and is co-funded by the European Union.

Topics covered

• The European framework (EU, CoE, ECtHR) in relation to vulnerable migrants
• Migrant workers: trafficking and labour exploitation
• Migrant children and migrant families
• Migrant women and migrant LGBTI+
• Migrants with disability, elderly migrants and migrants with diseases and trauma
• Migrants with individual types of vulnerability
  
  

Chairperson
Cindy Carroll, Deputy Chairperson, International Protection Appeals Tribunal
A graduate of law from University College Cork, Cindy was called to the Bar of Ireland in 1995. Following a devilling year in Dublin, she practised as a barrister in Cork, and lectured in Cork Institute of Technology and University College Cork.  In 2001, she was appointed as Advisory Counsel at the Office of the Attorney General and worked there advising primarily on asylum and immigration law. She returned to the Bar in Dublin in early 2004 and was briefed as counsel on the State Asylum and Immigration Panel from 2004 until March 2018. During this time, she lectured in the Dublin Institute of Technology, and both lectured and tutored in the Law Society of Ireland. In March 2018, Cindy was appointed as Deputy Chairperson of the International Protection Appeals Tribunal, where she is a member of the senior management team, Head of Training and a decision maker in asylum-related appeals. In May 2019, she made the first preliminary reference from the Tribunal to the Court of Justice of the European Union. Cindy has successfully an MA in Leadership and Strategy and is currently studying for a Doctorate in Governance. She has been a member of the pool of Judicial Trainers with the EUAA (formerly EASO) since 2021.

Speakers
Katherine Kane, Head of Professional Training, Law Society of Ireland

Barbara Egan, Principal Managing Solicitor, Legal Aid Board, Law Centre (Smithfield, Dublin)
Barbara Egan is the Principal Managing Solicitor with the Legal Aid Board in their International Protection and Human Trafficking Unit of the Law Centre, Smithfield in Dublin. The unit provides legal services to applicants in the International Protection process through in house solicitors and external panels of solicitors and barristers. They also provide an advice service to victims of human trafficking. Barbara has an LL.B degree from Trinity College, Dublin and an LL.M degree from the University of Northumbria. She is qualified as a solicitor in Northern Ireland, Republic of Ireland and England and Wales. As well as her lengthy experience with the Legal Aid Board she has worked in private practice in Northern Ireland and in the UK and worked as the Director of Legal Services in a support service for victims of domestic violence in Portsmouth New Hampshire in the US. She is currently responsible for managing the busy International Protection function in Smithfield and provides the advice service in relation to human trafficking.

Dr Liam Thornton, Associate Professor, School of Law, University College Dublin
Dr Liam Thornton is an Associate Professor in Law in the School of Law, University College Dublin. Liam researches and publishes on areas relating to law and asylum seekers, refugee law, international and European human rights law, legal systems, and social welfare law. 

Based on his research expertise, Liam has advised the Irish Constitutional Convention on socio-economic rights, produced shadow reports for consideration by UN human rights treaty bodies, and has provided advice to Oireachtas committees on a number of occasions. Liam has delivered bespoke teaching and training on European asylum and refugee law for the European Council of Refugees and Exiles, the Academy of European Law and the Institute for European Studies, Tbilisi State University.  Prior to joining UCD, Liam was a lecturer in law in Ulster University (2009-2012) and Research and Policy Officer in the then Irish Human Rights Commission (2008-2009). You can access all of Liam’s publications at: www.liamthornton.ie.

Katie Mannion, Managing Solicitor, Irish Refugee Council Independent Law Centre, Dublin
The Law Centre provides legal representation to people seeking international protection and refugees in their applications for international protection, family reunification applications, reception conditions and other related matters. In 2023, the Law Centre responded to crisis of homeless international protection applicants and brought High Court proceedings, which resulted in a Declaration that Ireland was in breach of both the Reception Conditions Directive and the Charter of Fundamental Rights of the EU. 

Dr Clíodhna Murphy, Associate Professor in Law, Maynooth University

Clíodhna Murphy is Associate Professor in Law at Maynooth University School of Law and Criminology. She teaches and researches in the fields of migration law and human rights law. She has published widely on these topics, including in international journals such as International and Comparative Law Quarterly, Legal Studies and Public Law. Clíodhna is a qualified solicitor (non-practising). She is a member of the Ethical, Philosophical, Legal and Political Committee of the Royal Irish Academy.

Speakers from other EU countries to be confirmed shortly

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