Biography
Susan Leahy, BCL, LLM, PhD (UCC), is a lecturer in law at UL. Her PhD research was funded by the Irish Research Council for the Humanities and Social Sciences. Her thesis was entitled The Rules and Realities of Consent in Irish Sexual Offences Law: Perspectives on Reform and examined the rules relating to consent in Irish sexual offences legislation. She has published her research on sexual offences in both national and international journals including the Common Law World Review, the International Journal of Evidence and Proof, the Journal of Criminal Law, and the Child and Family Law Quarterly. She has co-authored, with Dr Margaret Fitzgerald-O'Reilly, a book entitled Sexual Offending in Ireland: Laws, Procedures and Punishment, (Clarus, 2018). Susan's primary research interests lie in the area of criminal justice (with particular emphasis on sexual violence and victims of crime) and family law (specifically domestic abuse and marriage). Susan lectures in Criminology, Family Law, Child Law, and Media Law. She completed a specialist diploma in Teaching, Learning, and Scholarship at UL in 2014. She is the director of the BA (Criminal Justice) and co-director of the Centre for Crime, Justice and Victim Studies (CCJVS).
Teaching Interests
Susan teaches Child Law (LA4021), Media Law (LA4013 and LA5021), Family Law (LA4038), and Criminology (LA6052). She completed a specialist diploma in Teaching, Learning and Scholarship in 2014. Susan has a keen interest in legal pedagogy and has organised workshops on legal pedagogy involving national and international experts on law teaching in UL (2014 and 2016). Susan has co-authored (with Professor Shane Kilcommins and Dr Eimear Spain) a chapter on criminal law pedagogy which was published in Gledhill & Livings (eds), The Teaching of Criminal Law: The pedagogical perspectives (Routledge, 2017).
Susan has supervised a number of Advanced Lawyering projects for 4th year Law Plus students. These projects have focused on family law issues (e.g. the Child and Family Relationships Act 2015 and domestic abuse legislation) and victims' rights (e.g. rights of victims of sexual offences and of families of victims of homicide). Partners on these projects have included ADAPT Domestic Abuse Services, OneinFour and Advic.
Publications
Book
Sexual Offending in Ireland: Laws, Procedures and Punishment
Susan Leahy and Margaret Fitzgerald O'Reilly
Book Chapter
Recognition of Muslim Marriages Ceremonies in Ireland: An Analysis'
Leahy, S and O'Sullivan, K
Minority Religions under Irish Law: Islam in National and International Context
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004398252_007
Sexual Offences Law: the Impact of Gender Stereotypes on Adjudications of Consent in Rape Trials in Ireland'
Leahy, S
Law and Gender in Modern Ireland: Critique and Reform
Section 5 Criminal Law (Rape) (Amendment) Act 1990 (Ireland)'
Leahy, S
'Women's Legal Landmarks: Celebrating 100 Years of Women in Law in the UK and Ireland'
The absence of regulatory crime from the criminal law curriculum
Kilcommins S.;Leahy S.;Spain E.
The Teaching of Criminal Law: The pedagogical imperatives
DOI: 10.4324/9781315731902
The Absence of Regulatory Crime from the Criminal Law Curriculum'
Kilcommins, S, Leahy, S and Spain, E
The Teaching of Criminal Law: The Pedagogical Imperatives
Conference Publication
Minority Religions under Irish Law Symposium, University of Limerick, Ireland
O'Sullivan K; Leahy S
Unregistered Muslim Marriages Regulations and Contestations Symposium
OSullivan, K; Leahy S
Unregistered Muslim Marriages: Regulations and Contestations, De Montfort University, Leicester
Leahy, S and O'Sullivan, K
Irish Association of Law Teachers Annual Conference, Waterford, Ireland
O'Sullivan, K; Leahy, S
Irish Association of Law Teachers Annual Conference 2016
O'Sullivan, K and Leahy, S
Society of Legal Scholars Annual Conference
O'Sullivan, K; Leahy, S
'Victims' Rights: An Agenda for Change'
Susan Leahy
Institute of Guidance Counsellors CPD Event
Shane Kilcommins, Andrea Ryan, Susan Leahy
Socio-Legal Studies Association Annual Conference
Margaret Fitzgerald-O'Reilly and Susan Leahy
Criminal Law Pedagogy Workshop
Shane Kilcommins, Eimear Spain, Susan Leahy
North-South Criminology Conference
Susan Leahy
Society of Legal Scholars Annual Conference
Margaret Fitzgerald O'Reilly and Susan Leahy
North-South Criminology Conference
Susan Leahy
University College Cork Postgraduate Conference
Susan Leahy
North-South Criminology Conference
Susan Leahy
University College Cork Postgraduate Conference
Susan Leahy
North-South Criminology Conference
Susan Leahy
University College Cork Postgraduate Conference
Susan Leahy
Other Journal
Hard Cases and Bad Law: An Overview of the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2006'
Leahy, S
Irish Law Times
In a Woman's Voice: A Feminist Analysis of Irish Rape Law'
Leahy, S
Irish Law TImes
Review of Sexual Assault and the Justice Gap: A Question of Attitude?
Leahy, S
Web Journal of Current Legal Issues
Other Publication
'A Question of Consent'
Leahy
Privilege, Third Party Disclosure, and Mandatory Recording of Offences
Shane kilcommins, Susan Leahy, Andrea Ryan
Special Edition of the Irish Criminal Law Journal
Susan Leahy and Margaret Fitzgerald O'Reilly
The Civil Registration Act 2004 Implications for Muslim Marriages
O'Sullivan, K; Leahy, S
Irish Association of Law Teachers Annual Conference
'The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Bill 2014: A Step in the Right Direction but Not Far Enough'
Susan Leahy
Human Rights in Ireland Blog
'Rape Law Needs To Be Based on A Clear Definition of Consent'
Susan Leahy
Irish Independent Newspaper
'Law reform may change attitudes on sexual violence'
Susan Leahy
Irish Examiner newspaper
'Reform of Irish Sexual Offences Legislation'
Susan Leahy
Special Edition of the Irish Criminal Law Journal on Sexual Offences
Margaret Fitzgerald O'Reilly and Susan Leahy
'LRC Report on Sexual Offences and Capacity to Consent: A Timely Assessment of a Complex Area'
Susan Leahy
Human Rights in Ireland Blog
Peer Reviewed Journal
Criminal Offences Relating to Marriage Formation: Reflections on Recent Developments
Leahy, S
Irish Journal Of Family Law
Unrecognised Muslim Marriage in Ireland: Incidence and Implications
Leahy S.;O’Sullivan K.
Journal of Muslim Minority Affairs
DOI: 10.1080/13602004.2019.1684032
Changing Conceptions of Marriage in Ireland: Law and Practice'
Leahy, S and O'Sullivan, K
Child and Family Law Quarterly
'Responding Effectively to Domestic Burglary: A Critique of the Criminal Justice (Burglary of Dwellings) Act 2015'
Kiely, T and Leahy, S
Irish Criminal Law Journal
'The Domestic Violence Bill: A Good Start but Not Enough'
Leahy, S
Irish Journal Of Family Law
Exploring the impact of the Victims' Directive on service provision for victims of crime in Ireland'
Leahy, S and Spain, E
Northern Ireland Legal Quarterly
Too Much Information? Regulating Disclosure of Complainants' Personal Records in Sexual Offence Trials'
Leahy, S
Criminal Law Review
'Bad Laws or Bad Attitudes? Assessing the Impact of Societal Attitudes upon the Conviction Rate for Rape in Ireland'
Leahy, S
Irish Journal Of Applied Social Studies
Reform of Irish Rape Law: The Need for a Legislative Definition of Consent'
Leahy, S
Common Law World Review
DOI: 10.1350/clwr.2014.43.3.0272
'The corroboration warning in sexual offence trials: final vestige of the historic suspicion of sexual offence complainants or a necessary protection for defendants?'
Susan Leahy
The International Journal of Evidence and Proof
DOI: 10.1350/ijep.2014.18.1.442
'Book Review: Thomas O'Malley, Sexual Offences, 2nd ed'
Susan Leahy
Irish Jurist
'Whether Rules or Discretion? Developing a Best Practice Model for Controlling the Admissibility of Sexual Experience Evidence in Sexual Offence Trials'
Susan Leahy
Irish Journal of Legal Studies
'Summing Up in Rape Trials: The Challenge of Guiding Effectively and without Prejudice'
Leahy, S.
Irish Criminal Law Journal
When Honest is not Good Enough: The Need for Reform of the Honest Belief Defence in Irish Rape Law
Leahy, Susan
Irish Criminal Law Journal
The Defendant's Right or a Bridge Too Far? Regulating Defence Access to Complainants' Counselling Records in Sexual Offence Cases Part 2
Leahy, S
Irish Criminal Law Journal
The Defendant's Right or a Bridge Too Far? Regulating Defence Access to Complainants' Counselling Records in Sexual Offence Cases Part 1'
Leahy, S
Irish Criminal Law Journal
Published Report
Analysis of Text for the Mid-term Review of the Second National Strategy on Domestic, Sexual and Gender-based Violence 2016-2021
Leahy, S, Cusack, A, Kilcommins, S, Spain, E & Vaughan, E