Irish Community Development Law Journal is a peer reviewed online journal, published twice a year by Community Law & Meditation (formerly Northside Community Law & Mediation Centre) in Coolock, Dublin. The journal seeks to offer a platform for interaction that encourages greater scholarly and academic collaboration in the areas of social policy, law and community development, promoting the practice of community economic development law and policy in Ireland and learn about these initiatives in other countries.
This edition will examine economic social and cultural rights focusing in particular upon social welfare rights in times of economic and social crisis. Austerity has been the core budgetary strategy for several years now which has posed a real challenge for social welfare policy.
The challenges posed to social welfare policy have also highlighted the difficulties in enforcing the right to social security/assistance before the Courts in light of the fact that economic social and cultural rights generally are not directly justiciable.
With unprecedented high levels of unemployment and a very large percentage of the population dependent on social welfare payments as their only means of livelihood it is timely to consider whether the right to social security should be justiciable and to explore what human rights mechanisms could be relied upon in that regard. Given the impact of austerity and rising levels of poverty it is also important to consider whether it is incumbent upon the State to adhere to a minimum income threshold below which no person should be asked to live regardless of their circumstances.
Submissions are welcome from practitioners and academics working across a broad spectrum of professions and academic disciplines.
The deadline for submissions is Friday 17 October 2014.
If you are interested in writing an article, a book review or case‐study, please email: editor@communitylawandmediation.ie
Click here to access previous editions of the journal and for more information.