LEGAL EDUCATION should form part of the primary and secondary school curriculum, President Mary McAleese said yesterday.
Speaking at the American Bar Association international law meeting in Dublin, Mrs McAleese said empowering people and educating them about their legal rights was not always an easy task, but was essential to create and maintain a fair and just society.
She told international delegates that “one of the greatest injustices of all” was to keep people in ignorance of their human rights.
In Ireland, after the publication of “alarming reports”, we had realised “the terrible legacy caused by legal illiteracy, by people suffering in silence and afraid to say ‘no’ as their rights and their dignity are debased, disrespected and ignored”.
“It has been a bitter and sobering lesson and one that has made us determined that our nation’s children and our other vulnerable citizens will, in future, have a voice, be aware of their legal rights, know how to speak up and will be assured of the protection of the law when they are suffering,” the President said.
She said the teaching of law should not begin in universities or law schools. “It should form an appropriate part of the primary and secondary curriculum so that children have a basic grounding in the portfolio of rights and responsibilities that impact on their lives and which kick in long, long before they reach adulthood,” she said.
Legal issues including the age of criminal responsibility, of sexual consent and of contractual capability had serious consequences for children every day. “The law and all that it represents for the safety and sustainability of a decent society is far too important to be regarded as the exclusive preserve of the legal profession,” she said.
