Subjects:    Mental Health Law, Internet Regulation, Employment and Labour Law, Cybercrime

Darius Whelan received his BCL Degree in 1986 from University College Dublin and then completed an LL.M. thesis, also at UCD, on 'The Comparative Method and Law Reform' in 1990. He was called to the Bar in 1988 and his Ph.D. was conferred by Trinity College Dublin in 2000 for a thesis on the topic 'Criminal Procedure and Mental Health'. He runs the Irish Law e-mail discussion group and the Irish Law Site (www.irishlaw.org), which is hosted at UCC. His research interests include Mental Health Law and Internet Regulation.  He is currently President of the Mental Health Lawyers Association, the members of which represent patients admitted to approved centres under the Mental Health Act 2001. 

Forthcoming Book, December 2009: 

Mental Health Law and Practice:  Civil and Criminal Aspects
Dublin:  Thomson Round Hall, 2009.  ISBN 9781858005102 
ISBN-10:  1858005102

Publications and Papers

'Criminal Charges against Mental Patients' (1995) 5 Irish Criminal Law Journal 67 (Westlaw IE)

'Lawyers and the Internet' (1996) 14 Irish Law Times 212 (Westlaw IE)

Review of Penelope Kent's Law of the European Union (1997) 31 The Law Teacher 149

'Setting up a Legal Mailing List', Internet Newsletter for Lawyers, December 1999

'Using E-Mail Discussion Groups Effectively' (2000) 5 Bar Review 515

'Guide to Irish Law', Law Library Resource Xchange Website, August 2001 - www.llrx.com/features/irish.htm
Revised version - New York University GlobalLex, June 2005: 
www.nyulawglobal.org/globalex/Ireland.htm

'The Existence or Non-Existence of an Enforceable Contract for the Sale of Land: the Statute of Frauds revisited' (2001) 8 Commercial Law Practitioner 103  (Westlaw IE)

'Fitness to Plead and Insanity in the District Court' (2001) 11(2) Irish Criminal Law Journal 2 (Westlaw IE)

'Some Procedural Aspects of Insanity Cases' (2001) 11(3) Irish Criminal Law Journal 3 (Westlaw IE)

Shane Kilcommins, Emma McClean, Maeve McDonagh, Siobhán Mullally & Darius Whelan, Extending the Scope of Employment Equality Legislation: Comparative Perspectives on the Prohibited Grounds of Discrimination (Government Publications, Dublin, 2004), ISBN 0755719042, available at www.ucc.ie/en/lawsite/research/research-projects/employment-equality/ 

'Mental Health Tribunals: A Significant Medico-Legal Change' (2004) 10 Medico-Legal Journal of Ireland 84

‘The Criminal Law (Insanity) Act 2006’ (2006) Irish Current Law Statutes Annotated 

Also reprinted in T.J. McIntyre, Keith Spencer and Darius Whelan, Criminal Legislation Annotated 2006-2007 (Dublin:  Thomson Round Hall, 2008)  ISBN:  9781858005263 
WorldCat      

‘The Bloody Sunday Tribunal Video Simulation’ in James Elkins (ed.), Visual Practices across the University (Wilhelm Fink Verlag, Paderborn, 2007), chapter 7, p.100.  ISBN  9783770543731 

‘Fitness for Trial in the District Court’, (2007) 2 Judicial Studies Institute Journal - View Full Text

Conference Papers

'The Internet and Computer-Assisted Learning', Conference Paper, Irish Association of Law Teachers, December 1994

'Mental Health, Liberty and Preventative Detention', Conference Paper, Irish Association of Law Teachers, April 1998.

'Publication of Information by Public Bodies under Sections 15 and Section 16' ,  Freedom of Information Conference hosted by UCC Law Department and FOI CPU Department of Finance, Dublin Castle, April 1999 - see www.ucc.ie/ucc/depts/law/foi/conference/

'Improvement of Ireland's Criminal Insanity Law: A Consideration of Overdue Judicial and Legislative Reform' , Conference Paper, 26th International Congress on Law and Mental Health, Montreal, July 2001 - see www.ialmh.org

‘The Role of Mental Health Tribunals under the Mental Health Act 2001’, invited paper to Irish College of Psychiatrists, Dublin, November 2003

‘Development of an LLM in E Law and Commercial Law’, invited paper at Legal Framework for the Information Society workshop, Durham, March 2004.

‘The Mental Health Act 2001’, invited paper to SIPTU Nursing Convention on Health Service Reforms, Killarney, April 2004

‘Legal Obligations in Monitoring Employees’ Communications:  Web, E-Mail and Telephone’, conference paper at UCC Law Faculty seminar on E Law:  Legal Issues for the Information Age, May 2004

‘The Criminal Law (Insanity) Bill 2002’, invited paper to Schizophrenia Ireland workshop, Meath, October 2004

‘Redundancy and Transfer of Undertakings’, UCC Law Faculty Conference on Employment Law: Recent Developments, November 2004

‘Mental Health Tribunals’, invited paper at conference on the Mental Health Act 2001, Law Society, Blackhall Place, Dublin, May 2005

‘Accessing and Researching EC Law using Electronic Resources’, Joint Irish Centre for European Law / UCC Law Faculty European Community Law Workshop for Practitioners, November 2005

‘Creative Commons Ireland Perspective’, invited paper at conference on “Enabling Open Access to Scientific Data and Information within the Modern Knowledge Economy; the Case for a Scientific Commons”, Royal Irish Academy, Dublin, April 2006

‘Mental Health Law:  Civil Commitment in Post-Celtic-Tiger Ireland’, Faculty Workshop, St Louis University Law School, April 2006

‘Administrative Law, Fair Procedures and Judicial Review’ [with Professor David Gwynn Morgan], Training for Mental Health Tribunal members organised by Mental Health Commission, July-August 2006.

‘The Criminal Law (Insanity) Act 2006’, Central Law Training Conference, Dublin, September 2006 

‘Fitness for Trial in the District Court:  The Legal Perspective’, Judicial Studies Institute Annual District Court Conference, Adare, April 2007

‘Human Rights in Reviews of Detention under Ireland’s Criminal Law (Insanity) Act 2006’, International Association of Law and Mental Health annual congress, Padua, June 2007

‘European Human Rights Standards in the Mental Health Act 2001 and the Criminal Law (Insanity) Act 2006’, Centre for Criminal Justice and Human Rights seminar on Mental Health and Human Rights, October 2007 - www.ucc.ie/en/ccjhr/events/Text,41777,en.html

‘More than a Rubber Stamp?  The Role of Mental Health Tribunals’, Conference on Law and Mental Health, NUI Galway, November 2007
View Powerpoint Slides

‘Mental Health Tribunals and the Best Interests Principle’, Centre for Recovery and Social Inclusion conference, U.C.C., June 2008 
View Powerpoint Slides 

‘Mental Health Tribunals:  Recent Developments’, Mental Health Lawyers Association Conference, Dublin, July 2008 

Newspaper Articles   

'Judges Must Walk Delicate Line in Making Decision to Go Public', Irish Times, 10 April 1992.  Concerned law reform and the question of public statements by judges, in the light of recent statements by O’Hanlon J, available at
www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/archive/1992/0410/Pg014.html

'Judging Complex Psychology with Antiquated Set of Rules', Irish Times, 22 January 1993.  Concerned mental health, criminal law and the Private Courtney trial, available at
www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/archive/1993/0122/Pg012.html  

'Farmers who Grass to Competition Authority Could Open Floodgates', Sunday Business Post, 15 February 1998.

'Moving Statutes Captured on Disk', Irish Times 'Computimes' page, 1 February 1999.  Review of Irish Statute Book CD-ROM and Internet service, available at
www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/computimes/1999/0201/99020100062.html   

'Chance to Put Right the Flaws in Insanity Laws', Irish Times, 30 April 2003, available at
www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2003/0430/1049936393752.html  

'Companies Need Clear Internet Use Policy', Irish Times, 31 May 2004, available at
www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2004/0531/1084325417838.html    

'Major New Mental Health Law Long Awaited', Irish Times, 15 November 2006, available at www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2006/1115/1163060503624.html  

'A Justifiable Move' – article on diminished responsibility verdict – Irish Examiner, 19 June 2007 

‘Legacy of Unresolved Legal Issues on Mental Health’, Irish Times, 4 November 2008, available at www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/opinion/2008/1104/1225523342171_pf.html

Material Pre-1993

Assistant Editor, Study Text: Irish Business Law B.P.P. (Northern Ireland), 1992

Assistant Editor, Practice and Revision Kit: Irish Business Law B.P.P. (Northern Ireland), 1992

Contributor, Practice and Revision Kit: Irish Company and Partnership Law B.P.P. (Northern Ireland), 1993

'The Data Protection Act 1988',  Rights [ICCL Publication], Autumn 1988

Introduction to Handbook of Irish Case Law (Round Hall Press, 1989)

Introduction to Student Law Reporter (Round Hall Press, 1990)

View D. Whelan's papers on the Social Science Research Network (SSRN):
http://ssrn.com/author=506478

View Profile on ExpertiseIreland Database