Chris For Auditor

My Manifesto

Auditor Manifesto, Chris Murnane BCLII

1^st Year Class Representative, 80^th Session

Finance Officer, 81^st Session

My overarching objectives for the 82^nd Session:

· Public Relations Sub-Committee - delegated PR responsibilities│raise awareness of Law Society events

· Moot Development -implementation of moot development seminars│expansion of competition

· Cork Online Law Review Awareness – promote in all Law Faculties across Ireland│2^nd term workshop

· Educational Trip – build on inaugural educational trip to The Hague│make use of alumni connections│creation of Dail and Central Criminal Court Trip

· Intimate Law Dinner & Bigger Law Ball – Dinner all about law students│Ball about the headline acts

· Law Day – condense Law Week into one event filled day

Background

I have served on the Executive Committee of the Law Society for the past two years, this has afforded me a greater understanding of the workings of the Society. Most notably this year, as Finance Officer I was intrinsically involved in every aspect of the Society. I believe, this invaluable experience has given me the insight required to perform the duty of the Auditor to the highest possible standard. Having served under two extremely competent Auditors, with differing styles of leadership, I am more aware of the competing ways in which similar issues which face the society year on year can be approached.

I was shortlisted for the “Fresher of the Year Award” for my work on society during the 80^th Session.

I also have many personal attributes which I believe strengthen my resolve to be Auditor. I have achieved numerous All-Ireland Athletics titles and have represented Ireland at an international level competing in the 400m Hurdles. I am also a qualified sailing instructor. As a result I have gained many crucial organisational and interpersonal skills. My ability to balance many competing interests crucially demonstrates my effective time management skills, which is a key skill of any successful leader.

Ambitions and Goals

It is fair to say that the UCC Law Society has always gone from strength to strength, this is no small part due to the inherent desire of new Committees to build on the stellar work of those gone before them. This Society has the potential to make an impact on a national scale by hosting internationally renowned speakers and by developing the legal skills of the next generation of lawyers. As Auditor these are some of the aspects of the Society I would endeavour to enhance:

· PR Sub Committee

As the Society has so many high calibre events each year it is only fair that all reasonable effort is made to promote these to not only Law students and the greater population of UCC but also to the general public. Given the high number of quality events organised by the Society it is unreasonable to have one person solely responsible for all PR matters. To do the promotion of the Society justice I propose to create a PR subcommittee, who would be responsible to the PRO. Delegated responsibilities would include press releases, creating posters, managing online social media accounts and flyering. These important acts would help to substantially increase the society’s presence on campus. For their reward the Pr Subcommittee would receive first preference with regards to tickets of all events organised by the Society as well as free tickets to selected events.

· Moot Development

Moot is the youngest area of the Society. Mooting skills are vital to the practice of law. The importance of these skills is demonstrated by the fact that Moot is a compulsory module in final year BCL. The ability of Moot to develop further was reflected in the high number and quality of students partaking in the competition this year.

I propose to introduce a number of Mooting Seminars to be conducted prior to commencement of the annual Moot competition. This affords first and second year students the opportunity to acquaint themselves with principles of Mooting. Furthermore, I propose to send teams to Moot competitions in Universities across Ireland Much like Speaker Development, which plays a central role in the development of debating in UCC, these could include a small moot contest, of course they need not necessarily be as frequent. Moot has the ability, in time, to grow to the same level as Debating in UCC and a few steps in the right direction is all that may be required for it to grow and flourish.

· Cork Online Law Review Awareness

The Cork Online Law Review (COLR) is now in its tenth year and in that time it has grown to receive international recognition. Something which could potentially help COLR to grow is the increase in PR around campus and nationally after the closing date for the Edition of the year to help promote COLR for the following year. Given the online nature of COLR there is no reason why the 11^th Edition Launch could not be streamed online through the COLR website. The work of the COLR Committee is a yearlong affair and by advertising in advance, submissions for the following Edition could rise. Also the introduction a second workshop in the second term could inspire more people to submit the following year as well as helping people with general legal assignment writing. It may be possible to increase the cash prize for best submission as a greater incentive to improve the already extremely high quality of essay to something in line with the UCD Law Review. This was done by increasing sponsorship; something which shouldn’t be a problem for the prestigious COLR.

· Educational Trip

This year’s inaugural Educational trip to The Hague was a resounding success and complimented the EU 2^nd year class trip nicely. Having had a heavy hand in the organisation of the trip I have witnessed where the trip excelled and also certain aspects where it could be improved.. I would suggest potentially returning to The International Criminal Court in The Hague but also moving to incorporate a visit the International Courts of Justice. I would also seek to take advantage of any Alumni connections to enhance the overall experience of the tour. Of course I would still advocate a rest day in Amsterdam.

· Intimate Law Dinner – Bigger Law Ball

This year’s Dinner was one of the best in years due in no small part to the outstanding work of the Committee of the 81^st Session. Further to this, the Ball was pushed to be the most successful it has ever been. I strongly propose maintaining the Dinner as a relatively Law exclusive affair whilst pushing the Ball to become the biggest on campus. I would follow on from this year’s critically acclaimed act and look to build on the success they helped bring to the event. Key to this mantra is something to draw the crowds. Given that the Law Ball is traditionally one of the final Balls on campus it has the potential to grow exponentially, this can be done by advertising continually from quite early in the year. It is of course important not to at any point sacrifice the quality of the experience provided and this will be perhaps the biggest challenge but with the cumulative work of the Committee and the Subcommittee this is very much achievable.

· Law Day

It has been attempted over the past few years to establish Law Week as prominent event in The Law Society calendar. However I would contend that to make the biggest impact possible on the busy UCC calendar it is necessary to compress the week down into a “day”. This day and a half event would incorporate all the usual law week events such as the All-Law Tag Rugby Tournament and a comical debate and would still culminate with The Law Dinner. It should also be said that despite the fact that sponsorship has been offered in the past for a potential Law Day it should always maintain a dominantly charitable aspect. This high intensity ‘Law Day’ is sure to leave its mark on the college.

Further Points

House Meetings

This year’s House Meetings were as enlightening as ever. In First Year I aided the Society in bringing Robert Fisk to UCC. This event packed out Boole 4 and there is no reason why such a big speaker couldn’t be attracted by the Society to UCC again. This event proved in total to be effectively cost neutral to the Society. Legal forums were the original the basis for House Meetings and a return to these was seen during the 80^th Session. These centred on informal discussions involving lecturers and students relating to current legal cases and issues. As Auditor I would work with the Internal Convenor to establish these forums in such a way as to compliment the House Meetings.

Conference

Conference has the ability to be still further expanded and make national headlines given the high quality of speakers there is no reason why a greater audience couldn’t be attracted to the Conference. As Auditor I would seek to bring a prolific speaker who compliments the topic of the conference. It is possible for this to be done through increased sponsorship without incurring any additional costs to students.

Debating

Debating is one of the core pillars of the Society and it is only fair to say that interdependence with the Philosophical Society over the years has strengthened both Societies’ pedigree, most notably in the hosting of Worlds Debati8ng Championship in 2009. The issue has always been raised of how to attract more First Years into debating. This year Maidens had one of its highest entry rates yet a large number of people failed to attend and/or compete.

To tackle this issue I would propose to operate a number of special Speaker Development sessions in the weeks preceding Maidens in which an experienced debater is given a number of maidens to oversee and advise. These would be very much a quick beginner’s guide to debating and would serve as a stepping stone into actual debating competitions. The potential rebranding of these sessions would remove any preconceptions people may have of debating. The value to a law student of confident public speaking and the ability to hold a persuasive argument should be heavily emphasised.

Education

This year’s Careers fair was deemed by all to have been most informative and many left with new potential work aspects in mind. I would propose the increased use of informal talks such as the successful postgraduate talk this year to inform students of all possible avenues after they have completed their BCL, hopefully taking advantage of any Alumni connections. The Education Officer’s ability to efficiently liaise with faculty has proved invaluable and for this reason I would suggest increasing the number of Student Needs and Academic Development meetings. Now that the opportunity to sit the Law Society of Ireland exams in Cork has been removed I will endeavour as Auditor of the 82^nd Session to ensure that all possible arrangements are made to facilitate those forced to sit the exams in Dublin.

Alumni

The Society’s most valuable assets are without doubt its members, both past and current. As it stands there is no comprehensive database of all past members of the Society. I would propose looking at working with the Faculty, Graduation Office of UCC and the Communications & Media Office to start composing a list of Alumni. This list would prove most beneficial to students attempting to establish themselves in the legal sphere and further afield. Given the high calibre of the UCC Law graduates this is something which could contribute highly to the current education of students through the means of House Meetings, forums and seminars. This is quite a large task and would require ongoing dedication but initially could be delegated to a position on the PR subcommittee.

New Constitution

It is proposed to establish a new Law Society Constitution on the night of Hustings (22^nd of March) However the term new should be used loosely. The new constitution incorporates some much need housekeeping, clarification of titles and moving the election of Internal Convenor to the night of Hustings. I have had a substantial input into the redrafting of the constitution and would ask all students to accept the new draft. A copy of which should be available on the Law Society’s Facebook page.

So Why Vote for Me?

Quite simply I believe that given my in-depth experience I am the best man for the job. I am committed to building on every aspect of the Society while working to enhance the experience of students. I would look forward to working with each member of the Committee to bring their ideas for the Session to fruition. It is always important to remember that no position on the committee stands alone The Committee works as a team with individuals not only bringing good ideas to their own portfolio but contributing to the Society wherever they can in order to make the Session the best it can be. As Auditor my main guiding principle will be to ensure that all members have the support they need and that the executive runs as efficiently as possible.

I promise that as Auditor to endeavour to make the 82^nd Session one to remember.