Unparalleled experience in advising State and semi-State bodies, Government departments, local authorities and other public bodies
Overview
McCann FitzGerald has unparalleled experience in advising State and semi-State bodies, Government departments, local authorities and State agencies on critical public and administrative law issues arising from the exercise of public powers in the Constitutional and statutory environment in which public bodies operate.
We advise in the management of public bodies' decision-making processes and find an increasing preparedness by private organisations and individuals, whose economic or other interests are affected, to challenge these decisions.
We advise on the need for, and have drafted primary and secondary legislation, on the instructions of Government departments and other bodies having powers to enact legislation. We also prepare rules of procedure, risk reduction policies, codes of conduct, related guidelines and advise on their implementation.
Expertise
We advise statutory bodies on critical public law issues, including:
- The interpretation of their governing primary legislation and proposals for change to facilitate or support change initiated by the bodies
- The scope of their functions and the extent and proper exercise of their powers, in the context of initiatives, developments and potential legal challenges
- Establishing and operating procedures and managing their operations consistently with good governance practice and the proper exercise of their powers
- Minimising legal risks attaching to the exercise of powers, including challenges by way of statutory appeals and judicial review
- Managing change and effectively implementing policies affecting external stakeholders
- Responding to claims grounded on fundamental rights guaranteed by or derived from the Constitution and European Convention on Human Rights, which often seek to force changes in policies or priorities, and raise issues of principle which have implications beyond the individual case
- Setting terms of reference and establishing procedures for generic or bespoke investigations by or within public bodies
- Advising those managing investigations on the nature of the rights at stake in these processes, the steps to be taken to ensure that fair procedures are applied, assessing information and expressing findings, and on issues surrounding publication of reports
- Advising on the responses to criminal, regulatory and other forms of investigation and inquiry
- In appropriate cases, advising on the investigation of suspected criminal offences, the assembly and preservation of evidence and the conduct of summary prosecutions
We also advise such bodies and their officers and staff on the obligations under special public sector legislation, codes and guidelines, including those, which offer citizens a route for complaint or to demand redress or enforcement action if obligations are not met, including:
- Ethics and standards legislation
- Conflict of interest and confidentiality rules, in governing statutes or deriving from the general law
- Freedom of information
- Language rights
- Disability and equality
- Prompt payment legislation
- The corporate compliance obligations that impose obligations equally on public and private organisations (especially as employers and service providers)
Directory Comments
McCann FitzGerald receives high praise highlighting Sean Barton for his "encyclopaedic knowledge of the rules in operation in the ordinary courts", and Rosaleen Byrne for being an "excellent litigator and negotiator". The Legal 500, 2010