Tanya Ni Mhuirthile
I am a Lecturer in the School of Law and Government in Dublin City University. A graduate of University College Cork (BCL 2000, LLB 2005, PhD 2010) and the Royal Scottish Academy of Music and Drama (MDra 2002), I teach undergraduate modules in the areas of Equity, Trusts, legal systems, foundation of law and legal research and law and body politics.
My research interrogates the impact which law’s conception of corporeality has on certain types of bodies and reflexively, the issues which particular interventions on bodies raise that challenge certain assumptions of the law. Therefore it is quite interdisciplinary with a primary focus on law but drawing from medicine, ethics, sociology and history. The main legal areas which my research covers are consent in medical law and ethics and human rights law which I consider through the lens of gender, sexuality and law.
There are three main themes to my research. The first, building on my doctoral work considers the parameters within which law conceptualises gender recognition for legal purposes. Using human rights arguments around dignity, privacy and self determination as a basis, I have argued for a depathologisation of legal gender recognition. Conceiving legal recognition of gender within a medical model, I contend, conflates medical treatment pathways with access to legal rights such that the former acts as a barrier to the later. Much of my work in this area in the past few years has focused on policy development and advising both the Minister for Social Protection and other Oireachtas members on drafting gender recognition legislation.
The second theme also builds on work undertaken as part of my doctoral studies and research conducted as a postdoctoral fellow on an IRCHSS funded project Gender Equality, Multiculturalism and Religious Diversity in Contemporary Ireland. It investigates whether it is possible to martial medical law principles on consent both to protect vulnerable people from potentially unwanted medical or surgical interventions which would permanently alter their bodies while simultaneously ensuring that autonomous adults can consent to such permanent alterations. Thus far this theme has interrogated issues such as consent to treatment for intersex children and the creation of legislative frameworks to protect against female genital mutilation practices. Under this theme, my research also examines emerging medical technologies, such as in the area of womb transplantation and assisted human reproduction, to uncover the limits or opportunities which law’s understanding of the ‘acceptable’ body might place on the regulatory or legislative framework surrounding such innovations.
The final strand of my research has developed from my teaching interest in legal systems and skills. I have become interested in exploring the role of legal education in legal systems. In particular, I am intrigued by the transformative potential of law as a tool for social justice and uncovering the extent to which this underpins both the structures of the legal system and the education of future lawyers. To this end I am currently writing a book with Liam Thornton and Catherine O’Sullivan for Round Hall Press Fundamentals of the Irish Legal System: Law, Policy and Politics which will be published in 2016.
Phone: + 353 (0)1 700 5626
Address: School of Law and Government,
Dublin City University,
Glasnevin,
Dublin 9,
Ireland
My research interrogates the impact which law’s conception of corporeality has on certain types of bodies and reflexively, the issues which particular interventions on bodies raise that challenge certain assumptions of the law. Therefore it is quite interdisciplinary with a primary focus on law but drawing from medicine, ethics, sociology and history. The main legal areas which my research covers are consent in medical law and ethics and human rights law which I consider through the lens of gender, sexuality and law.
There are three main themes to my research. The first, building on my doctoral work considers the parameters within which law conceptualises gender recognition for legal purposes. Using human rights arguments around dignity, privacy and self determination as a basis, I have argued for a depathologisation of legal gender recognition. Conceiving legal recognition of gender within a medical model, I contend, conflates medical treatment pathways with access to legal rights such that the former acts as a barrier to the later. Much of my work in this area in the past few years has focused on policy development and advising both the Minister for Social Protection and other Oireachtas members on drafting gender recognition legislation.
The second theme also builds on work undertaken as part of my doctoral studies and research conducted as a postdoctoral fellow on an IRCHSS funded project Gender Equality, Multiculturalism and Religious Diversity in Contemporary Ireland. It investigates whether it is possible to martial medical law principles on consent both to protect vulnerable people from potentially unwanted medical or surgical interventions which would permanently alter their bodies while simultaneously ensuring that autonomous adults can consent to such permanent alterations. Thus far this theme has interrogated issues such as consent to treatment for intersex children and the creation of legislative frameworks to protect against female genital mutilation practices. Under this theme, my research also examines emerging medical technologies, such as in the area of womb transplantation and assisted human reproduction, to uncover the limits or opportunities which law’s understanding of the ‘acceptable’ body might place on the regulatory or legislative framework surrounding such innovations.
The final strand of my research has developed from my teaching interest in legal systems and skills. I have become interested in exploring the role of legal education in legal systems. In particular, I am intrigued by the transformative potential of law as a tool for social justice and uncovering the extent to which this underpins both the structures of the legal system and the education of future lawyers. To this end I am currently writing a book with Liam Thornton and Catherine O’Sullivan for Round Hall Press Fundamentals of the Irish Legal System: Law, Policy and Politics which will be published in 2016.
Phone: + 353 (0)1 700 5626
Address: School of Law and Government,
Dublin City University,
Glasnevin,
Dublin 9,
Ireland
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Book Chapters by Tanya Ni Mhuirthile
Historically, the law recognised three types of bodies as conferring legal status: male, female and hermaphrodite. Contemporaneous to increased specialisation in medical knowledge about hermaphroditic conditions, the laws governing the registration of persons were introduced: intersex is notable in its absence from these legal provisions. This coincidence of events is analysed and it is argued that it signals the beginning of the erosion of intersex from legal consciousness. Such a contention is further strengthened by an examination of the case law which has directly addressed the categorisation of bodies as either male or female. The results of this consideration reveal the disappearance of ‘intersex’ from legal consciousness.
The continuing importance of the dual role of the birth certificate as both a historical ‘snapshot’ of events at a particular moment and as a crucial and current identification document becomes apparent. It is argued that adherence to a binary understanding of gender actively discriminates against intersex people. Finally, the chapter considers the re-emergence of the historical paradigm of self-declaration of gender identity for intersex people.
Peer Reviewed Articles by Tanya Ni Mhuirthile
The paper questions whether law contributes to the invisibility of intersex. In particular, it asks whether legal recognition of intersex would enable the creation of space to facilitate the postponement of surgery until the intersex person could participate in the decision whether to undergo surgery or not. Alternatively, it considers whether legal recognition is perfunctory to the point of purposelessness. Finally, the paper investigates whether adopting a vulnerability approach to the question of legal recognition of intersex might produce a framework for legal recognition which acknowledges the lived experience of intersex people and respect their inherent human dignity.
Edited Collections by Tanya Ni Mhuirthile
This special edition of the Irish Business Law Review, edited by Dr Claire Hogan and Dr Tanya Ní Mhuirthile, contains updated versions of a selection of the papers delivered at that conference.
Foreword by Mr Justice Frank Clarke of the Supreme Court of Ireland
Introduction by Brian Hayes MEP
Section 1: Corporate and Financial Governance Issues Emerging From the Bust
- Consumer Protection in Financial Services: Evaluating the Impact of the Financial Crisis by Mary Donnelly
- International Bank Reform: A Welcome Consequence of the Financial Crisis by Sana Khan
Section 2: Personal Insolvency
- Judicial Treatment of Defences Pleaded in Personal Guarantee Proceedings by Claire Hogan
- The Personal Insolvency Act 2012: An Evaluation of Reform in Response to the Financial Crisis by Patricia T Rickard-Clarke
Section 3: Corporate Insolvency – Examinership, Receivership, Liquidation
- The Impact of the Financial Crisis on the Law Applicable to the Enforcement of Corporate Security by William Johnston
- The Financial Crisis Five Years On: A Critical Reflection on Examinerships in the Downturn by Gavin Simons
- Creaking at the Seams? Insolvency Practice in the Superior Courts by Rossa Fanning
Videos of Presentations by Tanya Ni Mhuirthile
Newspaper Articles by Tanya Ni Mhuirthile
Blog Posts by Tanya Ni Mhuirthile
Conference Presentations by Tanya Ni Mhuirthile
Historically, the law recognised three types of bodies as conferring legal status: male, female and hermaphrodite. Contemporaneous to increased specialisation in medical knowledge about hermaphroditic conditions, the laws governing the registration of persons were introduced: intersex is notable in its absence from these legal provisions. This coincidence of events is analysed and it is argued that it signals the beginning of the erosion of intersex from legal consciousness. Such a contention is further strengthened by an examination of the case law which has directly addressed the categorisation of bodies as either male or female. The results of this consideration reveal the disappearance of ‘intersex’ from legal consciousness.
The continuing importance of the dual role of the birth certificate as both a historical ‘snapshot’ of events at a particular moment and as a crucial and current identification document becomes apparent. It is argued that adherence to a binary understanding of gender actively discriminates against intersex people. Finally, the chapter considers the re-emergence of the historical paradigm of self-declaration of gender identity for intersex people.
The paper questions whether law contributes to the invisibility of intersex. In particular, it asks whether legal recognition of intersex would enable the creation of space to facilitate the postponement of surgery until the intersex person could participate in the decision whether to undergo surgery or not. Alternatively, it considers whether legal recognition is perfunctory to the point of purposelessness. Finally, the paper investigates whether adopting a vulnerability approach to the question of legal recognition of intersex might produce a framework for legal recognition which acknowledges the lived experience of intersex people and respect their inherent human dignity.
This special edition of the Irish Business Law Review, edited by Dr Claire Hogan and Dr Tanya Ní Mhuirthile, contains updated versions of a selection of the papers delivered at that conference.
Foreword by Mr Justice Frank Clarke of the Supreme Court of Ireland
Introduction by Brian Hayes MEP
Section 1: Corporate and Financial Governance Issues Emerging From the Bust
- Consumer Protection in Financial Services: Evaluating the Impact of the Financial Crisis by Mary Donnelly
- International Bank Reform: A Welcome Consequence of the Financial Crisis by Sana Khan
Section 2: Personal Insolvency
- Judicial Treatment of Defences Pleaded in Personal Guarantee Proceedings by Claire Hogan
- The Personal Insolvency Act 2012: An Evaluation of Reform in Response to the Financial Crisis by Patricia T Rickard-Clarke
Section 3: Corporate Insolvency – Examinership, Receivership, Liquidation
- The Impact of the Financial Crisis on the Law Applicable to the Enforcement of Corporate Security by William Johnston
- The Financial Crisis Five Years On: A Critical Reflection on Examinerships in the Downturn by Gavin Simons
- Creaking at the Seams? Insolvency Practice in the Superior Courts by Rossa Fanning