Not thinking straight? A critical discourse analysis of the 2006 Irish High Court ruling in Zappone and Gilligan v. Revenue Commissioners and Attorney General

The recognition and protection of constitutional rights is a fundamental precept. In Ireland, the right to marry is provided for in the equality provisions of Article 40 of the Irish Constitution (1937). However, lesbians and gay men are denied the right to marry in Ireland. The ‘last word’ on this issue came into being in the High Court in 2006, when Katherine Zappone and Ann Louise Gilligan sought, but failed, to have their Canadian marriage recognised in Ireland. My thesis centres on this constitutional court ruling. So as to contextualise the pursuit of marriage equality in Ireland, I provide details of the Irish trajectory vis-à-vis relationship and family recognition for same-sex couples. In Chapter One, I discuss the methodological orientation of my research, which derives from a critical perspective. Chapter Two denotes my theorisation of the principle of equality and the concept of difference. In Chapter Three, I discuss the history of the institution of marriage in the West with its legislative underpinning. Marriage also has a constitutional underpinning in Ireland, which derives from Article 41 of our Constitution. In Chapter Four, I discuss ways in which marriage and family were conceptualised in Ireland, by looking at historical controversies surrounding the legalisation of contraception and divorce. Chapter Five denotes a Critical Discourse Analysis of the High Court ruling in Zappone and Gilligan. In Chapter Six, I critique text from three genres of discourse, i.e. ‘Letters to the Editor’ regarding same-sex marriage in Ireland, communication from legislators vis-à-vis the 2004 legislative impediment to same-sex marriage in Ireland, and parliamentary debates surrounding the 2010 enactment of civil partnership legislation in Ireland. I conclude my research by reflecting on my methodological and theoretical considerations with a view to answering my research questions. Author’s Update: Following the outcome of the 2015 constitutional referendum vis-à-vis Article 41, marriage equality has been realised in Ireland.

Summons to Legislative Council of Upper Canada bestowed on William Dickson by George the Third, signed by the Attorney General

Summons to Legislative Council of Upper Canada bestowed on William Dickson by George the Third, signed by the Attorney General. The Crown Seal is faded, but intact, Nov. 16, 1815.

Impoverishment of The Law by The Law: A Critique of The Attorney General's Vision of The Rule of Law and The Federal Principle

This brief article is devoted to a critique of the arguments put forward by the Attorney General of Canada in connection with the Reference concerning certain questions relating to the secession of Quebec (hereinafter, "the Reference"). This critique will not be presented from a plainly positivist standpoint. On the contrary, I will be examining in particular (1) how the approach taken by the Attorney General impoverished the legal concepts of the rule of law anf federalism, both of which were, however, central to her submission; and, in a more general way, (2) how the excessively detailed analysis of constitutional texts contributes to the impoverishment of the symbolic function of the law, however essential that dimension may be to its legitimacy. My criticism will take into account the reasons for judgement delivered recently by the Supreme Court in the Reference.

Power of attorney for Thomas Whippo, 1798 October 10

A handwritten translation of a power of attorney, on two folio-sized leaves, certified by Francis Sales and dated October 10, 1798. The power of attorney authorizes Isaac Whippo, an American citizen living in Bordeaux, France to act as the attorney general and special for his brother, Thomas Whippo, also an American citizen and captain of the ship the Ganges of New York. The power of attorney was created in the Office of Gabriel Duprat in Bordeaux, with William Henry Vernon translating for Thomas Whippo and was notarized by Joseph Fenwick, Consol of the United States of America on April 14, 1798.

A compilation of the laws of Illinois, relating to township organization and management of county affairs : with numerous forms and notes of instruction, supported by adjudicated cases, opinions of the attorney general and rulings of the auditor of public accounts, with an appendix /

Includes index.

Report of the Attorney General of the United States prepared pursuant to section 708(e) of the Defense Production Act of 1950, as amended. Identical bidding as of August 9, 1961.

Includes bibliographical references.

Report of the Honorable James P. McGranery, Attorney General of the United States, to the Judicial Conference of the United States.

"September 22, 1952."

Report of the Honorable Herbert Brownell, Jr., Attorney General of the United States, to the Judicial Conference of the United States.

"September 24, 1953."

The Pacific railroads : suggestions submitted to the Hon. Charles Devens, attorney-general of the United States, on the resolutions of the Senate and House of Representatives in respect to the operation of the Union Pacific Railroad and branches : on behalf of said railroad company /

Mode of access: Internet.

A general charter for trade associations. Correspondence between the attorney general and the secretary of commerce. Permissible activities of trade associations. Text of Supreme court decision condemning certain practices. Text of act legalizing agricultural cooperative marketing associations, together with a treatise on the application of these pronouncements.

Mode of access: Internet.

Argument submitted on behalf of the Kansas Pacific Railway Co., before the Secretary of the Interior and the Attorney-General of the U.S. /

Includes a bill filed by the Kansas Pacific and Denver railway companies to compel the Union Pacific Railroad Company to operate and use its road as required by the several acts of Congress relating thereto.

Administration of the office of the alien property custodian. Message from the President of the United States transmitting in response to Senate resolution no. 299, a copy of the report made by the comptroller general to the President of the United States relative to his investigation of the administration of the office of the alien property custodian.

Read; referred to the Committee on the judiciary and ordered printed, December 22, 1926.

Statement by Herbert Brownell, Jr., attorney general of the United States before the Senate Committee on the Judiciary on S. J. Res. 1 (83d Cong.) a proposed amendment to the Constitution of the United States relative to the making of treaties and executive agreements, and S. J. Res. 43 (83d Cong.) a proposed amendment to the Constitution of the United States relating to the legal effect of certain treaties.

Mode of access: Internet.

The criminal law system of Yugoslavia; a criminal law survey of the Foreign Law Branch, International Affairs Division, Office of the Judge Advocate General of the Army.

Bibliography: ℓ. 21.

Authorizing the Attorney General to compel the production of documentary evidence required in civil investigations for the enforcement of the antitrust laws : report, to accompany S. 716.

"Calendar no. 446."