Research Profile

Biography

Dr. Fiona Broughton is a graduate of the Law Department at University College Cork. She graduated with an Honours BCL (Law and French) in 2001. She since completed in Postgraduate Diploma in Education and obtained a First Class Honours Masters Degree from University College Cork. She was awarded her Ph.D. in Law in December 2014.

Her research interests lie primarily in children's rights law and family law. She has published in the Medico-Legal Journal of Ireland and has also conducted research for the Child Law Clinic, Faculty of Law, UCC as well as research under Professor Ursula Kilkelly, on a project to audit the compliance with the children's rights standards of investigations undertaken by the Ombudsman for Children's Office.

She has taught a wide variety of law subjects including law for Social Workers, family law, commercial law, contract law and land law.

Research Interests

Fiona's research interests lie primarily in child law, both international and domestic. Fiona has a particular interest in the rights of the pre-natal child. She has delivered a number of conference papers on the topic of pre-natal children's rights. She has also published on the topic of maternal HIV and the rights of the pre-natal child and has delivered guest lectures on this topic.

Fiona was a member of the Child Law Clinic at the Faculty of Law, UCC. She was involved in undertaking numerous precise research tasks and working on children's rights issues being litigated in the courts. She researched and wrote the section on employment rights in the 'Know Your Rights Guide to the Law for Young People' commissioned by the Irish Council of Civil Liberties and the Children's Rights Alliance.

Fiona has also worked as a researcher, under Professor Ursula Kilkelly, on a project to audit compliance with children's rights standards of investigations undertaken by the Ombudsman for Children's Office. This involved researching finite children's rights issues in health, education and alternative care.

Fiona's Ph.D., awarded in December 2014, is a study of the extent to which Irish law, policy and practice alllow for the application of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child to prenatal children.

Publications

Peer Reviewed Journals

 YearPublication
(2016)'The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child's recommendations to decriminalise abortion in Ireland and the meaning of 'child' within the Convention on the Rights of the Child: overstepping the mark?'
Dr. Fiona Broughton (2016) 'The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child's recommendations to decriminalise abortion in Ireland and the meaning of 'child' within the Convention on the Rights of the Child: overstepping the mark?'. International Journal of Children's Rights, [Details]
(2012)'An Invisible Judgment for Invisible Children? What the High Court Decision in HSE v F (2010) says about Health Care Rights for Pre-Natal Children'
Broughton, F (2012) 'An Invisible Judgment for Invisible Children? What the High Court Decision in HSE v F (2010) says about Health Care Rights for Pre-Natal Children'. Medico-Legal Journal of Ireland, [Details]

Electronic Article

 YearPublication
(2010)Are Unborn Children Rights Holders Under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child? 1 (2010) The Boolean 17 - 22.
Fiona Broughton (2010) Are Unborn Children Rights Holders Under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child? 1 (2010) The Boolean 17 - 22. Electronic Article [Details]

Professional Activities

Honours and Awards

 YearTitleAwarding Body
2012Comyn Kelleher Tobin Bursary Comyn Kelleher Tobin
2009Department and Faculty of Law Scholarship Department and Fcaulty of Law, University College Cork
2009Comyn Kelleher Tobin Bursary Department and Faculty of Law, University College Cork
2002H. H. Stewart Literary Scholarship National University of Ireland
2002Edward and Matilda Ryan Scholarship University College Cork
2002Law Mercier Books Scholarship Department and Faculty of Law, University College Cork

Conference Contributions

 YearPublication
(2016)International and Comparative Law in the 21st century: Lessons Learned?,
Fiona Broughton (2016) Postgraduate and Early Career Conference. [Editorship of Whole Conference Proceedings], International and Comparative Law in the 21st century: Lessons Learned?, Griffith College Dublin , 10-JUN-16 - 10-JUN-16. [Details]
(2015)Irish Association of Law Teachers, 2015,
Fiona Broughton (2015) Enhancing the value of legal academia through pushing rights boundaries: a case-study of the right of the prenatal child to prophylactic HIV treatment in Ireland. [Oral Presentation], Irish Association of Law Teachers, 2015, Galway , 27-NOV-15 - 29-NOV-15. [Details]
(2014)Irish Association of Law Teachers Annual Conference, 2014,
Fiona Broughton (2014) Prenatal children as a marginalised segment of society and the potential impact of legal academia on the realisation of a variety of rights of such children. [Oral Presentation], Irish Association of Law Teachers Annual Conference, 2014, Kilkenny . [Details]
(2013)Irish Association of Law Teachers Annual Conference, 2013,
Fiona Broughton (2013) The right to be represented under the UNCRC and the position of the pre-natal child in Ireland. [Oral Presentation], Irish Association of Law Teachers Annual Conference, 2013, Dublin . [Details]
(2012)Annual Conference of the Irish Association of Law Teachers,
Broughton, F. (2012) Judicial Reasoning and Compulsory Prophylactic Treatment for HIV: the Role of Legal Scholarship in Clarifying the Law on the Pre-natal Child's Right to Health Care. [Oral Presentation], Annual Conference of the Irish Association of Law Teachers, Killiney, Dublin , 16-NOV-12 - 18-NOV-12. [Details]
(2011)Irish Association of Law Teachers Annual Conference,
Broughton, F. (2011) Ireland’s Interpretation of the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child: Protection Rights and Pre-Natal Exposure to Alcohol. [Oral Presentation], Irish Association of Law Teachers Annual Conference, Athlone , 17-NOV-11 - 18-NOV-11. [Details]
(2010)Fourth Annual Postgraduate Conference of the Centre for Criminal Justice and Human Rights,
Broughton, F (2010) Borders of Definition: Is the Unborn Child a Rights Holder under the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child?. [Oral Presentation], Fourth Annual Postgraduate Conference of the Centre for Criminal Justice and Human Rights, University College Cork , 29-APR-10 - 29-APR-10. [Details]

Employment

 EmployerPositionFrom / To
Griffith College Cork Lecturer in Law01-SEP-09 /
Griffith College Dublin Senior Lecturer01-SEP-15 /
University College Cork Lecturer in Law01-SEP-11 /
University College Cork Tutor01-OCT-12 / 01-APR-12
Disability Support Services, University College Cork Tutor01-SEP-10 / 01-SEP-11

Education

 YearInstitutionQualificationSubject
2008University College Cork MAFrench Literature
2014University College Cork PHDLaw
2007University College Cork PGDipEdEducation
2005University College Cork BCL - UCCLaw and French

Languages

 LanguageReadingWritingSpeaking
French FluentFluentFluent
Gaeilge FunctionalFunctionalFunctional
German BasicBasicBasic

Teaching Activities

Teaching Interests

Fiona's teaching interests are diverse and dynamic. She has been invited guest lecturer into Human Rights Law lectures. In UCC, she has taught Family Law and Child Law to both undergraduate law students and Masters in Social Work students as well as Introduction to Business law to undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Fiona is currently Senior Lecturer and Programme Director of the LL.M. (Masters in Law) at Griffith College Dublin. She has taught many areas of law at Griffith College including International Legal Systems, Contract Law, Land Law, Legal Research Methodology and Legal Skills.

Contact details

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University College Cork

Coláiste na hOllscoile Corcaigh

College Road, Cork T12 K8AF

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